Before I share my thoughts on the matter, let’s watch the relevant video:
As you can watch here, they ask İlber Ortaylı (aka İlber Hoca):
Acun Ilıcalı said, “I think people need to sleep. Why doesn’t work start at 10:30? Is the world saved in those two hours?” If we don’t all work together, there won’t be a problem. Someone told us to go to work early in the morning, and we’ve been going there ever since.
İlber Hoca’s answer to this question is as follows:
Acun can get up at 10:30, I have no objection to that. He can appoint a deputy to handle the morning’s work. But can he grant the same freedom to everyone? So, can someone just wake up at any time they want, so someone else can do it instead? Everything around us operates under this established mechanism: power plants, deposits (deposits of money or promissory notes in banks, etc.), garbage disposal, whatever…
Now, I’m asking Acun this as a question, not as a criticism.
So, you can wake up at 10:30 if you want. That’s your right. If you’re scheduling your work as a boss, employing a bunch of people, and then leaving a deputy to fill in for you, kudos to you. But if you allow everyone to wake up at 10:30—whether they want to wake up for prayer or for the morning prayer, things won’t work.
Acun’s responses to İlber Hoca
Acun responds to İlber Hoca’s criticism as follows (I’ll summarize below):
1) Our Hoca says the system is built on this. Unfortunately, these things stem from a lack of imagination. First, you must dream, then you implement, and then you see the results. Now I’m asking our teacher: What if we changed the system and work started at 10:30? What would happen then? What would happen if all companies started their shifts at this time, so we all slept together? Let’s sleep. Let everyone sleep, let everyone rest, and let us start the day feeling refreshed.
2) We’d play computer games until dawn, and the shuttle would arrive at the door at 7 a.m., and we’d dash back on the shuttle before the tournament was over, before we could even recover.
3) I think even the traffic is a result of leaving at the same time. I think even traffic would gradually decrease if everyone left later.
The program’s host supports Acun’s words: “I completely agree with what you’re saying. When I defend what you’re saying, early risers always tell me, ‘You miss out on life in the morning; there’s a different feeling, thought, and energy in the morning.’” Acun, acting as if he’d been appointed an expert by the public, says, “I respect this. Everyone’s opinions may differ, but if you like, let’s hold a vote, a referendum, and then let that person see the outcome. Those who say, ‘Let’s sleep in the mornings and get up late,’ will win overwhelmingly.”
A negative role model
Now, I’ll share my thoughts on this matter.
The Turkish media is one of the biggest reasons why education levels in Turkey are at their lowest and the broken system is getting worse every year in a dead-end cycle. Acun is the one who always carries the flag in the Turkish media, who creates programs that contribute nothing to people’s personal development and even retard their intelligence, and who is a very bad role model with his lifestyle and statements.
My notes on the subject
Regarding the idea of working late, I’d first like to say that I completely agree with Professor İlber’s feedback on the matter. I’d also like to add and emphasize the following points:
1) Everyone’s body clock is different. Some people like to be up in the mornings, while others prefer to be up at night. For example, I personally wake up at 5 a.m. every morning. I feel great the moment I wake up, and I usually go to the gym first thing, boosting my energy level even more. Afterward, I shower and get ready for the morning, and then I’m back at work at 8 a.m.
2) I agree with the saying, “Let’s get enough sleep.” But getting enough sleep is directly proportional to what time you go to bed. For example, Acun might have adopted a lifestyle of playing video games until 7 a.m., but it’s probably been 20 years since I’ve played video games. I especially don’t like playing games at night, and I believe the best and most productive sleep is between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m., and I don’t want to miss it. In fact, I wake up at 5 a.m., but I try not to go to bed past 11. Sometimes I get stressed out and can’t fall asleep at night, but barring those rare nights, I usually get at least 6 hours of sleep and wake up refreshed.
3) As Professor İlber said, “Acun, as the boss, has the luxury of coming to work whenever he wants. But if his cleaning staff also arrive at 10:30, as he suggests, would he appreciate having to work in a dirty and messy office? Do the cleaning staff have that luxury? Or if the electricity distribution or production companies that provide your electricity still try to come to work at 10:30, as you suggest, when the power lines are disrupted during a storm, wouldn’t you be in a powerless office? I’m saying this because the energy sector is my professional field. People use electricity, but they don’t realize the immense effort behind it. People don’t realize that significant interventions are made at power plants almost every day and night to ensure uninterrupted power, especially when the weather is bad.”
4) I can’t see the connection between starting work late and reducing traffic. I’m listing the most significant causes of traffic: unplanned urban development, poor urban planning, inadequate infrastructure, a population density (and therefore the number of vehicles) that is far above normal, traffic accidents are frequent, and people, by being smart enough to avoid the traffic, are causing even more congestion and accidents. Otherwise, once everyone is on the road at the same time, there will always be traffic, whether they start early or late. In Istanbul, in particular, there used to be traffic at certain hours, but now there’s traffic almost every day, every hour of the day.
5) I don’t see the connection between dreaming and starting work late. I don’t know, people might fantasize about things like, “I’ll develop a technology, make people’s lives easier this way, help cure these diseases, end energy dependency this way,” etc., etc. But a truly educated person wouldn’t dream of going to work late in the morning.
6) I also agree with the idea that you’re missing out on life in the mornings. Because while Acun and Acungiller start work at 10:30 a.m., I and others who think and live like me complete at least four or five tasks by 10:30 a.m. And most importantly, I personally always tackle the most challenging tasks in the early morning, when my energy and thinking power are at their highest, and strive to make the rest of the day smooth.
To summarize, I strongly disagree with Acun’s idea of, “Let’s change working hours and have everyone stay up late.” I urge him to stop setting a bad example, especially for young people and the new generation.
Tag: education
