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I'm not keen on reading a book that's in any way affiliated with Deepak Chopra. He represents one of the most intellectually bankrupt and destructive forces on

I'm not keen on reading a book that's in any way affiliated with Deepak Chopra. He represents one of the most intellectually bankrupt and destructive forces on the planet. Is he just mentioned offhand or is he given real focus? I find it baffling that a physicist who is respectable enough to write a book with Stephen Hawking would be able to stomach writing a book with a man who claims that quantum mechanics proves that meditation can affect one's "quantum-mechanical body" and prevent aging. EDIT: It seems I've misunderstood the book he wrote with Chopra. It's structured as a debate. I still that giving Chopra anything less than open hostility is a mistake, but it seems Mlodinow is not some new-age woo peddler.

simsla 8y ago
The article seems to claim exactly that: that the interviews with Deepak et al are anecdotal at best, and don't add much substance to the author's claims. Seems like this is one of those countless self improvement books: built around a premise that makes intuitive sense (here: having an outlet apart from work improves your performance at work) and listing tons of anecdotes to ingrain the idea further. Basically, a blog post padded with stories to make a sellable book. I'm not the biggest fan.
somethingElsa 8y ago
Instead of citing relevant research, he devotes multiple pages to famous people and their original ideas, among them Stephen Hawking and Deepak Chopra (his collaborators on previous books) and Seth MacFarlane, of “Family Guy” fame. His discussion of the novelist Isabel Allende’s mixed success with ayahuasca as a cure for writer’s block is an eye-opener, but on the whole these celebrity testimonials are too weak to provide much insight into the value of elastic thinking. Something of a mild distraction, no? Seems like an addendum to the rest of the cavalcade of characters in a spread-spectrum mass appeal attempt at name dropping. Seems petty to ding someone on the merit of their associations, rather than let their own principles and qualities stand on their own. I'm not saying I'm a fan of this guy. I'm saying I'm not of fan of such trivial mud slinging.

simsla 8y ago

The article seems to claim exactly that: that the interviews with Deepak et al are anecdotal at best, and don't add much substance to the author's claims. Seems like this is one of those countless self improvement books: built around a premise that makes intuitive sense (here: having an outlet apart from work improves your performance at work) and listing tons of anecdotes to ingrain the idea further. Basically, a blog post padded with stories to make a sellable book. I'm not the biggest fan.

somethingElsa 8y ago

Instead of citing relevant research, he devotes multiple pages to famous people and their original ideas, among them Stephen Hawking and Deepak Chopra (his collaborators on previous books) and Seth MacFarlane, of “Family Guy” fame. His discussion of the novelist Isabel Allende’s mixed success with ayahuasca as a cure for writer’s block is an eye-opener, but on the whole these celebrity testimonials are too weak to provide much insight into the value of elastic thinking. Something of a mild distraction, no? Seems like an addendum to the rest of the cavalcade of characters in a spread-spectrum mass appeal attempt at name dropping. Seems petty to ding someone on the merit of their associations, rather than let their own principles and qualities stand on their own. I'm not saying I'm a fan of this guy. I'm saying I'm not of fan of such trivial mud slinging.