As we travel around the country promoting our new book, War of the Worldviews: Science vs. Spirituality, people are asking about the major points of contention between science (the worldview represented by Leonard Mlodinow)
and spirituality (the worldview represented by Deepak Chopra).  Do we always disagree or are there some points of agreement?  We thought it would be appropriate to summarize the major differences and agreements in a short note.

Our book has four major sections: Cosmos, Life, Mind and Brain, and God. (more…)

Because of his popular fame, the dogmatic atheist Richard Dawkins has made himself immune to critical challenge.  His biggest bestseller, The God Delusion, was roundly castigated in intellectual outlets for being misinformed about the state of modern spiritual belief, Caltech physicist Leonard Mlodinow, co-author with Stephen Hawking of The Grand Design, has written a new book with me on the deep issues involved around science and God, called War of the Worldviews. In it he says, “While science often casts doubt on spiritual beliefs and doctrines insofar as they make representations about the physical world, science does not – and cannot – conclude that God is an illusion.”   Our book is in a long line of considered treatments from many quarters. (more…)

In our touring debates on science versus spirituality, Caltech physics professor Leonard Mlodinow and I take turns claiming to be the underdog. This is never more confusing than when it comes to debating Darwinism. Evolution has been a wedge issue for a century and a half. Biologists consider Darwin’s concept of the evolution of species incontrovertible; indeed, it may be the single greatest idea in the history of science. But the toppling of Genesis and its creation story hasn’t convinced the public. Presidential candidates on the right can still win support for Biblical creationism as an “alternative theory,” while only a third of Americans claim that scientific evolution is adequate to explain the origin of life. The vast majority believe that God’s influence, whether small or large, must be part of the story. (more…)

It’s not news that depression has become a kind of invisible epidemic, afflicting millions of people. We live at a time when depression is approached as a disease. That has a good side. Depressed people are not judged against as weak or self-indulgent, as if they only need to try harder to lift themselves out of their sadness. Yet depression, for all the publicity surrounding it, remains mysterious, and those who suffer from it tend to hide their condition – the medical model hasn’t removed a sense of shame. When you’re in the throes of depression, it’s hard to escape the feeling that you are a failure and that the future is hopeless. (more…)

[audio:http://deepakchopra.com/wp-content/uploads//2011/10/How-War-of-the-Worldviews-was-born_0_0.mp3|titles=How War of the Worldviews was born_0_0]

Deepak and Leonard’s first meeting at Cal Tech.

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