Deepak Chopra (Author! Physician! New age guru!) makes it weird!
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You Made It Weird #217: Deepak Chopra
“…and even the virgin birth, is to be born anew in the light of purity. Uncontaminated. Death, resurrection, the virgin birth, they’re all totally understandable. And by the way, they’re there in other religions.”
I’m aware that virginity is often times associated with purity, but that is a completely off-base association. It’s a total shaming of sexuality. Uncontaminated by what? Penises and vaginas? Life on earth wouldn’t exist without the implied “contaminated” reproduction.
And of course the virgin-purity theme is in other religions. It’s not evidence of its divine truth, it’s evidence that those religions were founded in times of unchallenged patriarchies. The belief that sex (specifically female sexuality) is impure and immoral is an old-ass, incorrect ideology.
I don’t agree with everything Dr. Chopra said, but I still found this conversation very interesting. Thanks for recording this, Pete!
Does thid guy think he’s cute giggling like a little school girl after every comment? I don’t mean to be negative but it really slows down vthe interview. and makes it extremely difficult to listen to
I only managed to get through 12 minutes of this before I had to shut this off. If everyone lived in the now all the time, no one would have dreams of a better future. Nothing would ever be invented. no businesses would ever be created to drive our modern society. No disasters would ever be prepared for. There’s nothing wrong with using your spirituality to drive your imagination. There’s nothing wrong with having goals – focusing on them often and using your mind-body-spirit to bring them into reality. Living with purpose trumps living in the now any day. We are sparks of the creator and we are here in part to create – and that requires forward thinking. Deepak’s words don’t resonate with me at all anymore. I am curious to listen to David Wolfe’s interview now based on comments below that he was a jerk. I met him once at the height of his popularity and he was an absolute class act.
Loved this HOWEVER Deepak has a major illogical jump in his thinking. He says that we don’t know everything, and because we don’t know everything, its un-knowable. That humanity CAN’T know it. And that gap in understanding is the cosmic consciousness. 100 years ago, medical science didn’t know much about disease, virus’ and etc. and guess what?! we figured it out! Don’t get me wrong, some of Deepak’s philosophy is beautiful, living in the moment for example, but filling the gaps of scientific understanding with flowery feelings and “God” is faith grasping at straws as their archaic beliefs are being replaced by explanations provided by science.
I completely understand if you wish to live apart from that understanding. I do Tai Chi, and I don’t want to “know” that the tingle I feel in my finger tips is actually due to circulation manipulation caused by the movements. I want to believe that its my chi/energy, and who knows, maybe its a combination of the two. But saying it doesn’t exist simply because I don’t want to know it, is the behavior of a child. Spirituality is beautiful, emotion is primal and all encompassing, but that doesn’t negate fact!
After listening to your conversation
with Brian Greene I actually had to change my belief system. I’ve been an Atheist for a very long time, and cited science as my faith, but Greene pointed out that science can’t conclusively disprove God, and as such, I can conclusively say “he doesn’t exist”. To listen to that episode, and then come here and see someone dressed up as intelligent spouting nonsense is disappointing to me.
I love you Peety, but don’t get deceived by someone simply because they’re confident. If you want to be philosophical remember that the greatest of thinkers was called the most intelligent of all time, simply because he wasn’t too proud to say “I don’t know”.
Got through 25 minutes of this before I just couldn’t put up with the bullshit any longer. While as an astrophysics student I knew I wouldn’t agree with quite a lot of what Mr Chopra was going to put forward, I wanted to give him a chance in the hope the guy would actually explain his points and we could find some common ground.
I’m afraid that it proved a classic example of someone propelling something approaching pseudoscience by dancing around the subject and being as general as possible with really ever making any attempt to explain himself or give any detail to what he actually means. You know, in the same way a horoscope can fit with so many people’s lives.
In the same way that there is a point where Pete and Mr Chopra agree that science has a lot of ‘what’ but no ‘why’ (something I’m not sure how I feel about), I would say Mr Chopra fails to flesh out his own ideas in a sufficient manner to convince me that he has any idea what he’s talking about.
I’m an extremely science-minded person and am STILL in school for it, but I enjoy explorations of spiritual ideas when presented in the right way. My dad’s a professional scientist with New-Agey tendencies so I’ve gotten used to hearing people out. Pete’s method is usually good fun for me because it’s paved with disclaimers. I was skeptical going into this episode because I was vaguely familiar with the kind of stuff Chopra peddles, but I was actually pretty surprised by the topics covered.
Unlike the David Wolfe episode (the only one I’ve ever had to turn off… what a dick, seriously), I thought most of the discussions were relatively harmless. It’s interesting to think that we could be perceiving the universe differently than it actually is (but math is not a perception, and if it were, it wouldn’t always turn out to be right). My problem is with Chopra’s overly confident attitude, and with Pete’s endorsement of Chopra himself, who has profited literal millions from misleading people, often denying them proper medical care. The dismissal of academic scientists as “corporate” really offended me… as another comment mentioned, scientists barely get paid for devoting their lives to finding truths that help people and the world we live in. But yeah, the episode itself was a lot less inflammatory and a lot more ~exploration~ than I expected (if you discount Chopra’s tone at some points).
I don’t know if Chopra really believes the things he says. Part of me believes he’s just filling in gaps in his own knowledge with whatever distorted ideas he can string together. If he can really astral project and “tune into different frequencies,” he’d be anonymous in a monastery somewhere, not constantly bragging about it in the media (without showing anyone, by the way). I’m sorry, Pete, but that’s not humility, it’s not a higher plane of existence, it’s just bullshit.
Deepak could win James Randy’s million dollar challenge by proving he can actually leave his body and observe things in other rooms like he claimed. But he doesn’t! If he doesn’t need the money than donate it to a charity. Maybe, just maybe he is still fake who takes money from the gullible. He’s no better than John Edwards or Sylvia Brown. And that’s why many didn’t give this pocket a listen. I had to force myself to finish it because I was hoping to hear something scientific. SPOILER ALERT: nope.
Jaymoff
Yeah, this episode made me happy, it’s positivity. Haters gonna hate. What’s wrong with entertaining new, strange ideas? It’s a free podcast.
Wow! I’m shocked by all the negative comments on this one. His message is basically “meditation is benificial” and “we should be more thoughtful to each other”. Is that frightening to people? Even if you disagree with his personal beliefs, it’s not like he’s waging a war or telling people to give him their money and live on his ranch. Just relax everyone. Also, how do you have ANY interest in this podcast. Even the comedians that come on just end up talking about their flawed personal beliefs, it’s not Science Hour with Pete Holmes.
I’m with you Aubrey – this is one of the few places I ever bother to comment as I’d typically rather not engage with the scourge of the earth that makes up the typical internet peanut gallery.
I have no desire to read through the rest of the negative/dissenting comments that may be here – but as I was listening I thought that so many things Deepak said could directly quash any possible negative arguments against him or his views. Particularly the part when he talked about Premature Cognitive Commitment – we are all victims to this, and people who are quick to judge and deny another viewpoint rather than to open it up to an exchange of ideas have the most work to do in attempting to counteract those tendencies. Ha, I realize in a sense I am falling victim to it myself right now as I make this point, but you have to pick your battles.
Point is, anyone who would refuse to listen to the episode as a result of preconceived opinions about Deepak are ironically those who could most benefit from hearing it. So give it a chance, people.
To put it simply, this one just made me..happy. Best. episode. ever.
This is the first internet comment I have ever left on anything.Pete, people who leave comments in comment sections are generally a little off. I have listen to you for years, I get the cosmic joke, I get what you are doing, it’s fantastic. There are thousands of us who love you and who get it but don’t do internet comment sections. Keep doing it!
Oh, the ONE thing that I don’t like about Pete.
His fixation with this quack.
I’ll be here for the next podcast like I’ve been for every other one. But I gotta pass on this.
Chopra does not deserve 5 minutes of anyone’s attention.
Deepy Chopes
I find it funny that people are just simply refusing to listen to the podcast just because it has a guy on it that they dislike.
One of the comments:
“well… after reading most of the comments I think I am going to skip this one.”
So because everyone dislikes a guy or a podcast you are going to follow suit?
What if everyone else is just an asshole? How does that allow you to make an informed decision about whether you truly like or dislike something?
Never expect people to be 100% with you. Make decisions based on your personal experiences with something. Otherwise you are just a mindless follower and that isn’t something to aspire to.
In this case, that’s like saying: “Guys, maybe Hitler has a point. Let’s hear him out”.
Did you seriously just compare Deepak Chopra to Hitler? Wow. And you think HE makes illogical jumps?
Hmm, well… after reading most of the comments I think I am going to skip this one. This guy always came off as a piece of trash whenever I heard about him elsewhere, and I don’t wanna waste my time listening to something that will just be annoying.
I do look forward to the next episode though, this will be the only one so far I have skipped (normally even if I see who the guest is and get a pang of, “fuck this guy” and consider not listening, I still try it out, but not thins time, not lending this guy any of my attention).
I won’t get involved, except to say that there’s a difference between a comedian friend with some new-agey views and a fraud who stands to profit from the ideas they’ve fabricated and are pushing purely for their own benefit.
I actually consider myself very open-minded. I lean towards science, but I find ghosts, astral projection, and the like to be very interesting discussion topics, and I would never rule out those ideas or the experiences people have had. I love when that stuff comes up naturally on the podcast. That said, having people who specifically push these ideas, often for their own gain, is not ok.
I understand that after a scientific guest you feel the need to balance it out with a guy like this, but they’re NOT the same thing. A scientist can fill a 90 minute episode because there’s a lot we as a species have learned about ourselves and our world. The other stuff is interesting and can be compelling when discussed with an open-minded (and ideally self-effacing) person, but it’s all almost purely speculation.
Basically, I think you should tell the closed-minded listeners who hate whenever ghosts come up on the show to fuck off. It’s your show, they’re topics you’re interested in, and I enjoy hearing discussion of them too. But I also think that peddlers of misinformation like David Wolfe and Deepak Chopra have absolutely no place on the show. We’re only getting further away from the truth by lending them any legitimacy or airtime. I didn’t necessarily agree with every single thing Rob Bell said, but he was honest, humble, and approached all his points from a rational and reasonable place, and in doing so gave me a new perspective on religion. He also didn’t seem to be making things up out of thin air that he stood to benefit from. That’s the difference.
i thought i was gonna be on board for this. sadly i was not. dude has the prospective of a high 17 year old and takes himself way to seriously.
WOW! Thank you Pete Holmes for this amazing, sincere interview w/ someone I would NOT expect to be on your show. I appreciate that you were knowledgeable about the subject matter and yet open to grasping the concepts Deepak presented. His word tracks and perspective are always amazing and your enjoyment of them changed my understanding of “you”. Thank you for disregarding the expectations of others and being brave enough to have Deepak Chopra on your show. Also, thank you for caring enough about your fans to plant these seeds of information into our universe.
Wait — You interviewed the CEO of Canada Post for a podcast?!? How random! 😉
for those keeping score:
People who can Astral Project:
Sinbad
Deepak Chopra
People who cannot Astral Project:
Peter Holmes
Wow. People seem fully upset about Deepak being on the show. I personally think a lot of his ideas are absurd to the extreme. Not gonna stop me from listening, and if I disagree it’s not going to stop me from listening to future episodes.
My world contains many viewpoints not my own, I’m not going to hide away from them. My brain is smart enough to listen to both good and bad ideas I may or may not agree with and set it’s own course. Abstaining has never typically brought much change other than to separate the abstainer through frustration from the rest of the world they hope to affect.
To any one whining. Shut the fuck up. There have been guests you’ve enjoyed, there have been guests you’ve been elated over. So what if there are guests you don’t like, so what if it is fifty fifty. Would it surprise you that the guests you loved were maybe hated by others as much as you hate Deepak.
Grow up, seriously. We live in a diverse world.
Hey, man, why are you trying to shut down other people’s viewpoints? I thought your world contained so many. I mean, unless you really meant “viewpoints I already agree with.”
And whining about perceived whining is still whining, so maybe you should take your own advice and shut the fuck up.
I haven’t read any comments that say people are no longer going to listen to the podcast. People are just expressing discontent after enduring bullshit for an hour and a half.
One of the first comments on this page literally says “as I will now never download a single episode ever again to make sure I don’t lend tacit support to the spread of this pseudoscientific garbage to vulnerable people”. Its weird that a lot of people on here cant just listen to anothers point of view without spewing how everything they say is wrong. Yes, it may be, but this is entertainment. Its meant to be entertaining, not 100 percent scientifically correct. Its like when people got up in arms because the OC wasnt real. Are you really listening to who made it weird to get your scientific facts? Who is doing this?
“My world contains many viewpoints not my own, I’m not going to hide away from them.”
“To any one whining. Shut the fuck up”.
Something seems wrong with these 2 statements.
I’m so glad I’m not the only person to think this guest is a pretentious fool with a loose understanding of basic highschool science concepts. I like how he talks about being transcended right after suggesting the bible is a metaphor for the death of an ego. I hope no one as hypocritical as this appears on the show again.
Okay, well that was a good hour and a half of gibberish.
Pete, you’re great and it’s nice to hear different views on things, but not if those views truly cause serious harm in the world. People like Chopra prey upon the suggestable and weak minded. Please Pete, don’t support those that bring actual harm to the world, hiding behind the concept of open mindedness, because technically, Jenny McCarthy discouraging vaccines or a Nazi denying the holocaust would be open minded, but far from cool.
First one I’ve skipped since the great Glaser debacle. Just can’t listen to this word salad charlatan. He honestly creeps me out,
Does Pete want to be a comedian or a self-help guru? I wish he would make up his mind.
Yeah, I’m just gonna skip this one. Love you, Pete, but this guy’s an asshole and I don’t want him in my ears.
Great episode! Listening to this made me feel really good
Academics are corporate scientists, according to Deepak and tacitly agreed upon by Pete. Yes. We get minimal salaries, spend years expanding the overall breadth of human knowledge, and fight tooth and nail to get the barest funding to do this…and we’re corporate. Our motivations are to..make money? Fool people into not being spiritual? Push a rationalist agenda (oh wait, that one we do pursue, as rationality is the reason that children don’t die of measles any longer, among a million other scientific advancements).
And Mr. Chopra? He pontificates on how we are all the universe, constantly refers back to the science which he derides (“isn’t it cool that I can be flying above the planet, press a button, and send a message to millions of people through the wireless?”), and also has a net worth of $80 million.
Please tell; who is corporate and a shill in this scenario?
Deepak Chopra writes a lot of stuff about quantum mechanics in his books. Any physicist will tell you that what he says has nothing to do with actual quantum mechanics. What does that say about Deepak Chopra? What would you call a guy like that?
Someone who has their own ideas about things? instead of being snarky and thinking you know it all, why not say…”hey, here is a guy who’s ideas are different. Maybe its not what I believe, but its interesting to hear a different perspective.” Who knows…you might find an idea or two….INNNSIGHTTTFULLL *said in ghostey wiggle voice*
Are those rhinestones on his glasses? I hope so. Great episode! Really fascinating to hear you guys gab about dreams and the farther out stuff (though I tend to take it with a grain of salt rather than totally subscribe to it). I find it surprising that some folks would get so up in arms about something so interesting and inoffensive.
Deepak rules, looking forward to listening to this. Also it’ll be my first You Made It Weird episode
Someone’s grumpy pants
There’s a big difference between exploring the weirdness of navigating one’s career, one’s love life, and one’s private inner thoughts and exploring the claimed supernatural weirdness of noted frauds, charlatans, and plagiarists who stand to make a buck by peddling their nonsense to the uneducated. I’m very disappointed to see that this show continues to give a voice to dangerous liars like Dr. Chopra and David Wolfe in an attempt to pursue the latter type of weirdness. It’s not interesting to hear people make the same absurd claims about the nature of reality with 0 evidence backing it up (or in Chopra’s case, even a coherent thought to back it up).
And to head off accusations that this show needs balance, there is nothing to balance. On one side of the scale is modern medicine, rationalism, and science which are all self-correcting systems of thought that have been proven time and time again to be the best explanations for, and predictions about, everything they’ve been applied to. On the other side of the scale are magic supplements, special gold, and promises of spiritual fulfillment if you can just learn to string enough scientific-sounding words together to form a sentence which seems coherent to stupid people. For a funnier explanation, see John Oliver’s take on the “balance” in climate science discussions.
My point in writing this isn’t to change the show, as I will now never download a single episode ever again to make sure I don’t lend tacit support to the spread of this pseudoscientific garbage to vulnerable people. My point in writing this is to make sure that the excuse of ignorance is gone. I am telling Pete, Nerdist, and the listeners that support this show via ad revenue that this is harmful garbage that thinking people should not endorse even ironically.
http://whatstheharm.net
Wow. Now that was weird!
Photochop…great podcast
Judging by the photo you included with this podcast, I can only assume Deepak Chopra has merged with the cloud and no longer has a human form.