# Deepak Chopra throws temper tantrum disguised as Million Dollar Challenge to Randi **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880 "2014-06-16T04:51:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/1 "2014-06-16T04:51:09Z")
["I challenge the non “amazing” Randi & his professional debunkers & skeptics to explain normal experience & offer them a $1 million prize."](http://doubtfulnews.com/2014/06/cheeky-chopras-fatuous-challenge/)That’s right, Chopra is offering James Randi a million dollars if Randi can come up with a double-blind peer-reviewed study that explains all of reality. The video is filled with hand waving, puffery and childish insults. ---
**Author:** ![Dead\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9fc29f/32.png) [@Dead\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dead_Cat)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/2 "2014-06-16T08:16:08Z")
Hmm - this all sounds very familiar, but I don’t think I should go into further detail as this could contravene the rule against baiting posters to discuss that which they have been told not to discuss. ---
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/3 "2014-06-16T09:37:39Z")
I was so intrigued with this quantum mechanics that Deepak refers to over and over and over again in his books, that I decided to take a class in it. And what I found is-Deepak Chopra is full of shit! - Julia Sweeney Seriously, the fact that anyone takes this nutter seriously is evidence that somewhere, our education system has failed. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/4 "2014-06-16T15:00:32Z")
What is Deepak Chopra main “woo”? Holistic health? ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/5 "2014-06-16T15:09:29Z")
if i could explain all of reality i wouldn’t give it up for just a million. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/6 "2014-06-16T15:15:19Z")
> [@johnpost](#): > > if i could explain all of reality i wouldn’t give it up for just a million. And it has to be a study published in a peer reviewed science journal. Can you imagine how pages it would take to publish such a study? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/7 "2014-06-16T15:19:12Z")
A much more appropriate scenario would be Chopra taking the JREF challenge to objectively demonstrate the efficacy of “quantum healing,” and either winning the $1 million or paying them $1 million if he fails. However, my precognitive powers tell me that this will never, ever happen. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/8 "2014-06-16T15:37:14Z")
And what was that weird bit near the end concerning Dawkins not being able to read the words on his shirt? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/9 "2014-06-16T15:45:33Z")
Chopra is so full of crap it’s coming out his ears - and if it only came out his ears the world would be a better, smarter place. However I will say that [this idea is not new.](http://www.rawilson.com/csicon.html) It’s just an argument about what natural vs. supernatural or normal vs. paranormal means, and it doesn’t pose an actual challenge to JREF. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/10 "2014-06-16T16:39:19Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > What is Deepak Chopra main “woo”? Holistic health? I would say that his main woo claim is akin to The Secret, the power of positive thinking, etc. - that your mind is essentially creating the reality around you. He gets there by picking up ideas from all over - so you’ll find bits of Christianity and Hinduism right next to musings about quantum physics. So… want to live forever? Just believe it! Want to cure cancer? Just believe it! Want to make a million bucks? Just believe it! Your [insert muck about brainwaves, God and quantum physics] will interact to make it a reality. And if you’re sick, poor, old, etc. then you got that way by thinking the wrong things. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/11 "2014-06-16T16:43:15Z")
I don’t know if people use the term New Age anymore, but it sounds like fairly typical New Age horseshit. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/12 "2014-06-16T16:54:44Z")
Poor Deepak has been [on the warpath against those nasty skeptics](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2009/12/02/deepak-chopra-and-his-choprawoo-take-my/) for several years now. Apparently he’s miffed at becoming [a national joke](http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2014/06/16/deepak-chopra-issues-a-hilarious-challenge-to-james-randi-over-consciousness/). ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/13 "2014-06-16T19:26:47Z")
Oh goody, another one. [Kent Hovind’s “evolution” challenge:](http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind.html) > [@](#): > > ``` > I have a standing offer of $250,000 to anyone who can give any empirical evidence (scientific proof) for evolution.* My $250,000 offer demonstrates that the hypothesis of evolution is nothing more than a religious belief. > > * NOTE: When I use the word evolution, I am not referring to the minor variations found in all of the various life forms (microevolution). I am referring to the general theory of evolution which believes these five major events took place without God: > 1. Time, space, and matter came into existence by themselves. > 2. Planets and stars formed from space dust. > 3. Matter created life by itself. > 4. Early life-forms learned to reproduce themselves. > 5. Major changes occurred between these diverse life forms (i.e., fish changed to amphibians, amphibians changed to reptiles, and reptiles changed to birds or mammals). > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Astral\_Rejection](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/258eb7/32.png) [@Astral\_Rejection](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Astral_Rejection)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/14 "2014-06-16T23:23:13Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > 1. Time, space, and matter came into existence by themselves. > 2. Planets and stars formed from space dust. I’ve always wondered why evolution-deniers think this has anything to do with evolution. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/15 "2014-06-16T23:40:04Z")
> [@](#): > > I have a standing offer of $250,000 to anyone who can give any empirical evidence (scientific proof) for evolution.\* My $250,000 offer demonstrates that the hypothesis of evolution is nothing more than a religious belief. > > - NOTE: When I use the word evolution, I am not referring to the minor variations found in all of the various life forms (microevolution). I am referring to the general theory of evolution which believes these five major events took place without God: > > 1. Time, space, and matter came into existence by themselves. > 2. Planets and stars formed from space dust. > 3. Matter created life by itself. > 4. Early life-forms learned to reproduce themselves. > 5. Major changes occurred between these diverse life forms (i.e., fish changed to amphibians, amphibians changed to reptiles, and reptiles changed to birds or mammals). Oh, that one’s easy. I exist. Therefore, all of those things happened. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2014, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/16 "2014-06-16T23:48:14Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > And it has to be a study published in a peer reviewed science journal. Can you imagine how pages it would take to publish such a study? Literally all of them, I would presume… ---
**Author:** ![Grestarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grestarian/32/3227_2.png) [@Grestarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grestarian)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/17 "2014-06-17T00:40:44Z")
> [@hotflungwok](#): > > Oh goody, another one. > > [Kent Hovind’s “evolution” challenge:](http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/hovind.html) Quote: I have a standing offer of $250,000 to anyone who can give any empirical evidence (scientific proof) for evolution.\* My $250,000 offer demonstrates that the hypothesis of evolution is nothing more than a religious belief. ``` * NOTE: When I use the word evolution, I am not referring to the minor variations found in all of the various life forms (microevolution). I am referring to the general theory of evolution which believes these five major events took place without God: 1. Time, space, and matter came into existence by themselves. 2. Planets and stars formed from space dust. 3. Matter created life by itself. 4. Early life-forms learned to reproduce themselves. 5. Major changes occurred between these diverse life forms (i.e., fish changed to amphibians, amphibians changed to reptiles, and reptiles changed to birds or mammals). Well, that money's certainly safe. Not only is #5 a position that evolutionary scientists do NOT support, but the whole thing is premised on the innocuous-looking note that tries to distinguish micro-evolution from macro-evolution -- a dichotomy invented by creationists as a straw-man argument to allow them to dismiss the clear and recorded evidence of evolution that has occurred in the years since Darwin's controversy erupted and claim that such evolution is different from the biological changes that resulted in modern humans of the last three millenia (at least). Unfortunately, most people will not even notice; it's as subtle and nepharious as Ken Ham's use of "observational" versus "historical" (speculative and generally blasphemously wrong) science in his debate with Bill Nye. ``` I’d provide a counter-bet: Prove that the following were caused by the entity that biblical scholars and Kingdom Hall attendees agree is called Jehovah: 1. Time, space, and matter were created. 2. Planets and stars formed from Jehovah’s intentional act. 3. Life was created by Jehovah\*. 4. Early life-forms were given the ability to reproduce by Jehovah. 5. 100% of our planet’s denizens were created by Jehovah in their current forms. –G.☹ \*…who was already alive at the time? ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/18 "2014-06-17T01:52:41Z")
You also have to prove that it happened “without God”, with, of course, no indication of what that proof would involve. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/19 "2014-06-17T11:39:46Z")
I strongly doubt Kent Hovind has any such money to award in any case. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2014, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880/20 "2014-06-17T14:43:52Z")
Yeah, that’s how these guys play. They set up some completely farcical challenge, and then crow about how no one has beat it yet, all the while ignoring actual challenges that could be met cuz they know they’re frauds. It’s just another dishonest tactic. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/deepak-chopra-throws-temper-tantrum-disguised-as-million-dollar-challenge-to-randi/690880.md?page=2)