Dear Campus Community,
In light of the massive Campus advertising campaign for Deepak Chopra's presentation on the April 13th "Wellness Day", we feel we should address some possible misconceptions about the nature of Dr. Chopra's work (and maybe save some of you the ticket price).
Although Dr. Chopra's appearance is sponsored by the College of Health Sciences, it is not a scientific workshop or a scholarly presentation, but instead an "entertainment" event. This is not only born out by the (steep) price for admission (which is contrary to the free dissemination and open debate of scientific information), but also by the fact that Dr. Chopra is not a practicing scientist. Instead, he follows the long (and very lucrative) tradition of much of "alternative medicine", offering his admirers miracle cures and "deeply philosophical" ruminations, many of which are totally ungrounded in empirical studies and modern scientific knowledge.
In particular, he is one of the most successful writers to exploit the general public's fascination with (and lack of understanding of) topics of modern Physics, like Quantum Theory and Relativity. As scientifically trained citizens and ODU faculty, we can assure you that the "mysterious connections" between these admittedly difficult and advanced concepts of modern science and ancient (or "post-modern") health traditions exist only on the "literary"level of homophones and allegories.
While there is nothing wrong with the promotion and sale of wholesome-sounding products and procedures like "breathing", "smoking cessation" and "healthy eating", one should not conclude, from ODU's sponsorship of the event, that any of them are based on reliable scientific facts. People with serious illnesses are vastly better served by seeing a doctor who is willing to base his/her therapy on scientific knowledge instead of nice-sounding phrases and wishful thinking.
-- Sebastian Kuhn, for the members of "Science and Reason in Hampton Roads"
PORTFOLIO
To Tom Robotham
Editor of Port Folio
1300 Diamond Springs Rd. Suite 102
Virginia Beach, VA 23455
Dear Editor:
From the "upfront" article in the March 25 edition of "Port Folio", one gets the impression that Deepak Chopra has been fully accepted by the medical establishment. Since his upcoming visit is sponsored by Old Dominion University's College of Health Sciences (together with ARE and Bon Secours), one could be led to believe that his ideas and cures have somehow entered the mainstream of medical science. This is not true. The most important ingredient of science is to confront any lofty ideas, claims and theories with experimental tests, something Dr. Chopra (as well as most other "alternative healers") disdains doing. Of course, some of the advice he gives is helpful -- eating more healthy food, reducing stress, etc. -- but those aspects of his teachings which have been proven to work are long since part of mainstream (science-based) medicine (for instance, dieticians are available in most clinics). On the other hand, some of his pronouncements really sound nice (for instance about the connection between the mind and the universe) but are best categorized as allegories and poetry.
However, you can still turn Deepak Chopra's visit into an educational experience befitting a major Research University like ODU. All you have to do is work the following course assignment (keyed by scientific discipline):Extra Credit: How can you tell the difference between Dr. Chopra's appearance and a scientific conference/presentation? (Hint: It's not the price of admission, but where that money goes -- apparently Dr. Chopra receives up to $25,000 per appearance).
- Physics: How does Dr. Chopra's statement that "he finds ancient Indian Vedic scripture confirmed by the theories of modern quantum physics" differ from the statement "the light spectrum (colors) emitted by an element can be explained by quantum mechanics"? (Hint: Only one of these statements is testable and actually has been extensively tested by experiment).
- Chemistry: Dr. Chopra says "if you think happy, you will have happy molecules." What is a "happy molecule" and how can you spot one?
- Psychology: If you read the sentence "According to psychological studies, most people don't grow up after eight years of age" in a scientific journal, how would you react: a) You would believe that because it sounds plausible; b) You would look for references to scientific publications that indeed prove that point.
- Biology: How, with no more sophisticated equipment than a telephoto lens and camera (and an earlier photograph of Dr. Chopra), could you prove or disprove the claim " ....by consciously using our awareness, we can influence the way we age biologically.... You can tell your body not to age"?
- Medicine: If Dr. Chopra's Vedic cures really are superior to "Western" medicine, why are Americans on average healthier and live longer than people in India?
- Geology: According to Dr. Chopra, certain gems and crystals can rejuvenate human skin. Which measurable characteristics decide the specific effect of a given crystal, and why is a lump of coal not equivalent to a diamond (both are made of Carbon)?
- Mathematics: What is the probability that thousands of people like Dr. Chopra can actually fly just by concentrating their thoughts, without any positive proof of this feat available for scientific scrutiny?
-- Signed by Sebastian Kuhn and Lawrence Weinstein for "Science and Reason in Hampton Roads"
http://www.physics.odu.edu/~weinstei/srhr.html