We first heard Chopra state 'If you feel genuinely attractive, you'll attract other people to you' .... I tend to agree with him here.
Then he stated, 'if you create a shift in consciousness, you create a shift in biology, that's it' ... he's correct here also. Many studies into placebo's, Human psychology and neuro-psychology also concur to some degree.
Chopra is brilliant, no doubt, plus he's an MD. He wouldn't be nearly as effective as he is if that weren't the case. He's also a competent MD, so he knows a thing or two regarding biology...
Regarding Dawkins claim that Chopra has hijaked quantum terminology to describe his own idea ... isn't this what great physicists/thinkers do all the time to describe their concepts?
No. Chopra takes the terminology from quantum physics and attempts to alter the terminology's meaning to disingenuously give credibility to his own specious and unproven ideas in order to sell his media. This is why he is facetiously called The Profit, and why we refer to it as hijacking. When great minds are honest and they use other great thinker's terminology, they are true to the original meaning and context of the words. So they are simply using others' terminology as opposed to hijacking it...
Einstein had little time for the idea's of Schroedinger's 'Quantum entanglement' among other principals of QM he disagreed with. 'Spooky action at a distance' I think he disparagingly called it, but Einstein appears to be wrong about this.
Einstein may not have personally liked the quantum entanglement theory, but afaik he did recognize it as fact. He did not like the uncertainty and probabilistic nature of quantum mechanics in general, he was fond of saying, "God does not play dice".
I just feel that only through the discussion of ideas can we debate and progress. We need more free thinkers and ideas in this world NOT fewer. This is my main gripe with Dawkins approach to science and metaphysics. The man is too quick to point the finger of quackery at those that fall outside of the conventional paradigm.
I agree about progress being attained through the discussion of ideas. I don't see a shortage of 'free thinkers', as Nevaeh and New Age United fall into this camp, along with anybody else who likes to be seen as 'thinking outside the box'. What is of value are free thinkers that base their work on credible theories and the facts about objective reality, as opposed to the ones that are largely uneducated or attempt to warp the facts of objective reality to further there own bias agendas. Dawkins has little tolerance for this type of thing, so he rubs many people in both camps the wrong way. I don't think he harsh on people because the are outside they conventional paradigm, I think it is because they make statements of fact that cannot be proven or supported, or are spreading misinformation via some other form.
Chopra's circular reasoning and logic is often used against him in TED Talks and the like. It seems the more educated the audience, the worse he fairs. His bread and butter seems to be those that don't know enough to see what he's up to. Here's a cute snippet of such an instance -
Here's the full length interview from which I took my earlier video snippet, it is very amusing -
Here's 2 hour debate with Shermer and Harris vs. Chopra and one of the worst picks I've ever seen anyone make, Jean Houston. She is an idiot. I could think of several people that would have lent more credibility to his position, especially against such skeptic heavyweights like Shermer and Harris! It is a very amusing debate, but spoiler alert, Chopra and Houston clearly get owned, as their ideas and positions cannot stand up to world class scrutiny. I've seen it several times, being a fan of Chopra, I think you'll enjoy it -
Ten minute clip -
Full 2 hour debate -