Here is alink to the debate. One caveat this is to the edited tv version, you can find the link to the 2 hour long unedited version as well. I suggest to do the latter as the edited version misses much of the substance.

My Take: Chopra gets absolutely humiliated and exposed as the snake oil salesman that he is. Oh and when ever the lady starts to talk you can just fast forward, she makes less sense then even Deepok.


http://abcnews.go.com/nightline/vide...ylist=10185323

Thanks.

It sounds interesting.

Will check it out soon.

Where is the link to the two hour unedited version

I believe this youtube one is:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-8-Y...x=0&playnext=1
If not several versions have been posted in the RGT video tread, where it was also lightly debated.

This was in the rgt vid thread

Linky

If it was a fight they would have stopped it.

Glad there is an independant thread on this, though I commented on it in the video thread.

Shermer and Harris definetely pwned this one. The lady seemed to be in the wrong debate and was sticking to her wishy-washy message no matter what the actual topic of dicussion was.

The shock, for me, was Deepak. This is the first time I've really heard him speak. His reputation (at least AFAIK) is of a rather intelligent if not brilliant thinker, philosopher, etc. I couldn't believe what I was hearing from him. While he clearly is not an idiot, and did make a handful of interesting and astute points, so much of what he said seemed like - as Shermer would put it- woo woo nonsense.

I don't know if he was just off his game, or what, but while I know he's not an idiot, he sure sounded like it much of the time.

Loved the part, where Chopra says the moon disappears if no one is looking at it, because it is just a big quantum soup.

could you list some of his astute points? I don't know that I have the patience to watch the whole vid

Lucky for the moon that someone is always looking at it.

Jib, if nothing else, watch harris at part 5.

watch nr 6 also, harris is awesome.
Actually, just make the time and watch the whole thing, lest you take things out of context. Even the women's remarks are decent, they just have no relation whatsoever with the debate going on.

And part 7-02:44 onward is very revealing. Deepak says something concrete, namely (paraphrasing) 'I dont know, what im saying is just a hypothesis', then tries his hardest when pinned downs to confundle it again with a lot of wordplay. Maybe im misunderstanding him, but to me that is just non-accidental confundling of his message with a whole bunch of fuzzy words.

Gosh, I'd have to listen to it again. I think it was more that I didn't violently disagree with everything he said, when he was just talking about how people should work together I guess I was nodding in agreement. There were a few times where I thought he made some good points. It's just the way he gets there that makes little sense (at least within the confines of that short debate).

In a way, he sounds a bit like Craig, in that he seems to have his beliefs because he thinks it gives people good motivation to be good.

it is downright painful listening to deepak.

in part 2, he's asked if there is any scientific evidence in favor of god. he rambles on and makes little, if any, sense. i dont think he makes a single coherent point the entire time.

jesus. up to part 6 now. deepak acts like a bratty child the whole time.

the essential "stuff" of the universe is not "stuff"

This youtube comment hits it dead on:

He only has that reputation because New Ager morons love to soak up his bull****. He is a complete fraud and has nothing to offer but fictitious mysticism and sophistry. Not to say he is alone in this, but there is nothing particularly special that separates him from a motivational speaker. Except that most motivational speakers don't fancy themselves as such significant people.

i want what that hippie lady is smoking

Seriously, what the **** is that lady doing there?

I'm about read to pay money to someone who will edit out the bow-tie ******* commentator/host from each episode of Durrr Challenge, and edit this almost as irritating (but in a completely different way) lady from this debate, so I can watch these things for more than a few minutes at a time and without cringing constantly.

I have his book, Buddha (an imagining of the life of buddha), I only read a chapter but it seemed well written. I'm having trouble matching the book to the man I heard. But I will give it an open mind.

I have no doubt he is capable of writing on academic subjects reasonably well (assuming this is the same Chopra). And he must be pretty intelligent, as he practiced REAL medicine at one time. But the books he has put out on his personal theories of transcendental medicine are utter charlatanism.

I think I've heard him speak before and I didn't think much of him.

I watched part 5 and I don't find this debate to be that interesting. Jean Houston is really boring and confusing. I wish she would just go away. The only thing Deepak is good at doing is shooting himself in the foot. This could have been a very interesting debate if the theists were much better. Unfortunately, this is only worth watching if you want to watch either Harris or Shermer.