Global InformationDeepak Chopra information
Deepak Chopra | |
|---|---|
 Chopra in 2019 | |
| Born | October 22, 1946[1] New Delhi, British India[2] |
| Citizenship | United States[3] |
| Alma mater | All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi |
| Occupations |
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| Spouse |
Rita Chopra (m. 1970) |
| Children |
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| Relatives | Sanjiv Chopra (brother) |
| Website | Official website  |
Deepak Chopra (/ˈdiːpɑːk ˈtʃoʊprə/; Hindi: [diːpək tʃoːpɽa]; born October 22, 1946) is an Indian-American author and alternative medicine advocate.[4][5] A prominent figure in the New Age movement,[6] his books and videos have made him one of the best-known and wealthiest figures in alternative medicine.[7] His discussions of quantum healing have been characterised as technobabble – "incoherent babbling strewn with scientific terms"[8] derided by those proficient in physics.[9][10]
Chopra studied medicine in India before emigrating in 1970 to the United States, where he completed a residency in internal medicine and a fellowship in endocrinology. As a licensed physician, in 1980 he became chief of staff at the New England Memorial Hospital (NEMH).[11] In 1985, he met Maharishi Mahesh Yogi and became involved in the Transcendental Meditation (TM) movement. Shortly thereafter, Chopra resigned his position at NEMH to establish the Maharishi Ayurveda Health Center.[12] In 1993, Chopra gained a following after he was interviewed about his books on The Oprah Winfrey Show.[13] He then left the TM movement to become the executive director of Sharp HealthCare's Center for Mind-Body Medicine. In 1996, he co-founded the Chopra Center for Wellbeing.[11][12][14]
Chopra claims that a person may attain "perfect health", a condition "that is free from disease, that never feels pain", and "that cannot age or die".[15][16] Seeing the human body as undergirded by a "quantum mechanical body" composed not of matter but energy and information, he believes that "human aging is fluid and changeable; it can speed up, slow down, stop for a time, and even reverse itself", as determined by one's state of mind.[15][17] He claims that his practices can also treat chronic disease.[18][19]
The ideas Chopra promotes have regularly been criticized by medical and scientific professionals as pseudoscience.[20][21][22][23] The criticism has been described as ranging "from the dismissive to...damning".[20] Philosopher Robert Carroll writes that Chopra, to justify his teachings, attempts to integrate Ayurveda with quantum mechanics.[24] Chopra says that what he calls "quantum healing" cures any manner of ailments, including cancer, through effects that he claims are literally based on the same principles as quantum mechanics.[19] This has led physicists to object to his use of the term "quantum" in reference to medical conditions and the human body.[19] Evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins has said that Chopra uses "quantum jargon as plausible-sounding hocus pocus".[25] Chopra's treatments generally elicit nothing but a placebo response,[7] and they have drawn criticism that the unwarranted claims made for them may raise "false hope" and lure sick people away from legitimate medical treatments.[20]
- ^ Chopra & Chopra 2013, pp. 5ff.
- ^ Encyclopaedia Britannica Almanac 2010. Encyclopaedia Britannica. 2010. p. 42. ISBN 978-1615353293.
- ^ Jeffrey Brown (May 13, 2013). "Chopra Brothers Tell Story of How They Became Americans and Doctors in Memoir". PBS NewsHour. Retrieved January 7, 2015.
Chopra & Chopra 2013, p. 194
Boye Lafayette De Mente (1976). Cultural Failures That Are Destroying the American Dream! – The Destructive Influence of Male Dominance & Religious Dogma!. Cultural-Insight Books. p. 42. ISBN 978-0-914778-17-2. - ^ "Deepak Chopra". The Huffington Post. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Kaufman2013was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Alter, Charlotte (November 26, 2014). "Deepak Chopra on Why Gratitude is Good For You". Time. Retrieved December 16, 2014.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
Gamel2008was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Strauss, Valerie (May 15, 2015). "Scientist: Why Deepak Chopra is driving me crazy". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
- ^ Plait, Phil (December 1, 2009). "Deepak Chopra: redefining "wrong"". Slate. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
- ^ Burkeman, Oliver (November 23, 2012). "This column will change your life: pseudoscience". Retrieved May 19, 2018.
[Chopra]'s the guy behind Ask The Kabala and 'quantum healing', which involves 'healing the bodymind from a quantum level' by a 'shift in the fields of energy information', and which drives crazy people who actually understand physics; his critics accuse him of selling false hope to the sick.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
restlesswas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
baer2003was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Dunkel, Tom (2005). "Inner Peacekeeper". The Baltimore Sun. Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
- ^ David Steele (2012). The Million Dollar Private Practice: Using Your Expertise to Build a Business That Makes a Difference. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 26–. ISBN 978-1-118-22081-8.
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
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skepdic-webwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Chopra, Deepak (June 19, 2013). "Richard Dawkins Plays God: The Video (Updated)". The Huffington Post. Retrieved October 7, 2017.