PZ Meyers skewers Deepak Chopra

[snousle]

Every time I pick up a book by Deepak Chopra, I become irritated. Every page is full of nonsensical and factually incorrect blather. So it's encouraging to see him so well and thoroughly skewered:

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2008/11/flaunting_ignorance.php

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2006/10/deepak_chopra_does_it_again.php

http://pharyngula.org/index/weblog/comments/moonbat_anti_evolutionist_deepak_chopra/

Gods, I hate the misappropriation of science by bullshit new-age prophets. So much so that it's fairly obvious this is an irrational ego issue that does little more than drag me down. I mean, why should I care what he writes when half of America doesn't believe in evolution anyway? But I sure do enjoy it when others take up the cause of defending science from the gadflies. Saves me the trouble of doing it myself.

Comments

[pangolin.livejournal.com]

This causes me to wish I had gotten my degree in biology. :(
Maybe I shall do so one day.

[snousle.livejournal.com]

Biology is actually the friendliest of sciences for the earnest dilettante. My degree was in engineering, but a career in genomics was still very accessible. If evolution interests you, you can't do better than Richard Dawkins. The Extended Phenotype provides the frisson of new insights on almost every page.

[pangolin.livejournal.com]

I hope it is not too ranty. While I agree with some of his criticism about religion, he can go overboard and be pretty effing fundy atheist himself. I will give it a look though.

[snousle.livejournal.com]

Not at all - having read some of his genetics books fifteen years ago, I was surprised to learn he's so militant about the atheism stuff. The books are straight evolutionary theory, without all the math. He's a wonderfully visionary and precise writer when it comes to science. There is so much on each page I could only read about 2 pages per day, otherwise it was just too much to keep up with!

[urbear]

Julia Sweeney devotes a chapter of her one-woman paen to atheism, Letting Go of God, to Deepak Chopra. Here's a bit of it from her CD (be sure to listen all the way to the end). Her show is well worth seeing, or purchasing on CD or DVD, by the way.

[snousle.livejournal.com]

That really brightened up my day!

[danthered.livejournal.com]

"And my ancestors came from Sweden, so why the heck are there still Swedes?"

*giggleSnert!*

I've learned something today.

[sig-info.livejournal.com]

Every time I pick up a book by Deepak Chopra

Gee, I didn't know you were a masochist.

Re: I've learned something today.

[snousle.livejournal.com]

Like you wouldn't believe. It's like a car accident, I can't stop myself from looking.

...

[dorisduke.livejournal.com]

agreed, completely.