More Misinformation From Deepak Chopra

I recently wrote about my introduction to the work of Deepak Chopra. Not too long after that, I had the displeasure of hearing him on the radio. He confirmed my opinion of him very well. For this, he at least deserves some credit for being consistent (being consistently wrong and full of shit is still consistency).

Let's look at some of the lowlights from his radio appearance, based on the notes I took as he spoke...

He spoke about the correlation between meditation and changes in the body, including the brain. This is a valid and documented association. But he used this to promote his faux-scientific (and money-making) view of a mind separate from the brain influencing biology. Let's use a computer analogy here: Is installed software separate from the computer? If you load new software on your computer, does it affect the processes in the computer? Of course it does! Does this require some form of New Age magic? No! The correlation between the workings of the mind/brain and the biological functions of the body, if anything, help to disprove his crap, not prove it. Change the mind, change the body. Change the body, change the mind. Why does this happen? Ummm, maybe because the mind is biologically-based? But that does not put money in his pocket, so he makes a right at Alberquerque, when the truth is to the left (SEE NOTE).

Chopra admitted in the interview that he shunned physiology as a medical student for emotional reasons (he was grossed out by dead bodies), but then spun it as being some sort of grand epiphany that the medical field was wrong for thinking that it could learn about life from studying dead things. Again, a skilled rhetorical tactic. Can one learn about fire by studying the fuels from which fire arises? Umm... yes. You can build a perfect turbine engine without having to have worked with a running one. You don't need to invoke some sort of mystical fire-soul thing, but you sure do need to understand the mechanics of it all.

At one point, he referred to Buddhism to supposedly back up his make-believe world views, specifically mentioning the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh. This was a tactic of his that I have noted before: Completely flip the truth upside down. Both the Dalai Lama and Thich Nhat Hanh have made it quite clear that science knows more than Buddhism about the fabric of reality, and both have written that when science and Buddhism conflict, Buddhism must change to reflect the facts. This is, of course, completely the opposite of the position of faux-science peddlers like Chopra.

My head almost exploded when he said "Angioplasty does not prolong life a single percent." Yes that is a direct quote. This is so brazenly in the face of fact that I am not sure what to say. I have a brother who had angioplasty almost twenty years ago and he is still alive and kicking. Another brother of mine had two stents put in five-plus years ago. My own angioplasty was done in November 2007. I went from rapidly-progressing angina to a complete absence of angina in the course of a 45-minute-or-so procedure and was back to work and playing music live in less than a week. When I went to my doctor for my follow-up visit, he looked at the images of my heart before the procedure, with the left anterior descending artery more than 90% blocked, and told me that 35 years ago, when he entered the medical field, that was a death sentence. Why would Deepak Chopra tell such a horrible lie? Because real medicine is science-based (i.e., fact-based) and he is a peddler of snake oil (anti-science). Reality is the enemy of his financial success, so he must do all he can to deny it.

He was spewing so much crap that I could not keep up with my note-taking. I did note at one point that he was a "full-out, damn the torpedoes Bullshit artist."

This second exposure to Deepak Chopra left me with the same impression as the first: This man is not as stupid or ignorant as his statements would seem to indicate. He knows what he has to do to sell his products. Everything out of his mouth or pen or keyboard is a commercial carefully crafted to sell those products. What is somewhat ironic to me is that I see his target demographic as being many of the same people who are anti-capitalism/corporation/business. These same people who mistrust corporate advertising totally buy into Deepak Chopra's corporate advertising. Make no mistake about this: He IS Big Business.

XXX

NOTE: Yes, a Bugs Bunnyism. Bugs, unlike Chopra, earned an honest living and had worthy lessons to teach.