Indicate in the comments whether you'd like to sign this letter as a supporter of the Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Skepticismat the Center for Inquiry (Canada). Include your name, title, and affiliation. Email me if you'd rather not post a comment. (My name is "l.moran" and my domain is "utoronto.ca")
See Shame on the Royal Ontario Museum for more information about the event.
William Thorsell
Director, the Royal Ontario Museum
100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON
M5S 2C6
Mr. Thorsell,
We at the Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Skepticism (CASS) at the Centre for Inquiry (Canada) and its supporters were dismayed to learn that the Royal Ontario Museum will be sponsoring a talk by Deepak Chopra at the University of Toronto in connection with the Director's Signature Series: The Warrior Emperor and China's Terracotta Army.
While we fully support the concept of academic freedom, we are baffled by this invitation and wonder how it fits into the mandate of the museum to "serve as an advocate for science in the study of nature," as stated in your message on the ROM website. Mr. Chopra's new age psycho-babble may be attractive to the general public, but by inviting him to speak at the ROM, you lend undeserved scientific credibility to his pseudo-scientific claims about quantum physics, psychology, chemistry and medicine. These claims are rightly rejected as absurd by the scientific community and by promoting them you tarnish the otherwise excellent scientific reputation of the Royal Ontario Museum.
CASS will be publishing the standard rebuttals of Deepak Chopra's fanciful quackery in order to help the public understand where he goes off the rails. Our hope is to turn this otherwise embarrassing event into a learning opportunity. We are also contacting the sponsors of the event and the ROM's other private donors in order to voice our concern about Mr. Chopra's presentation. We would like the ROM to clarify how Mr. Chopra's visit fits into this lecture series, as it seems this is just another opportunity for him to promote his new book.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
The Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Skepticism (CASS) at the Centre for Inquiry Canada
598 comments :
1 – 200 of 598 Newer› Newest»Larry, I'll sign that.
Gabriel A. Devenyi B.Eng.
Ph.D. Student - Engineering Physics
McMaster University
Excellent letter, well written and succinct.
Count me in.
PZ Myers
Associate Professor, Division of Science and Math
University of Minnesota Morris
As a Torontonian, I find this deeply embarrasing. Please cancel the quack show.
Janice in Toronto
I'll Sign that, too.
Darren S. A. George, PhD
Instructor, Math/Science
North Island College
Campbell River, B.C.
Add my name if you wish:
Larry Flowers
Microbiologist
I'd sign.
Joel Green
lowly Toronto resident
I would be more than willing to be included on this.
Travis D. Stewart, BSc, BCS
MCS Student - Computer Science (Bioinformatics)
Carleton University
Michelle Noël, MA (University of Toronto)
resident of Ontario
I'll definitely sign this:
Eric J. Pedersen
Ph.D. student - Biology
McGill University
I'll get behind this.
Benjamin Wilson
M.A. Student - Physical Anthropology
Northern Illinois University
Andrew Connor
Toronto, ON
Leave my colobus monkeys alone Deepak!
Larry
I have no title but I will sign it.
Susan Benfold
Bolton, Ontario
Great letter, sign me up.
Mary Thomson
Director of Applications Development
Remspec Corporation
Sign me up.
Maxine Levine
Toronto, ON
Put me down as well.
Kevin Bailey
Chemical Engineering Student
University of Waterloo
I am a lifelong Toronto resident who has always loved the ROM. The decision to host this event is baffling and disappointing, to say the least.
Alyssa H.
Add me too.
Anthony Karosas, BA, BSc
Alberta Health Services
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Add my name.
Nigel Gomm
Paris, Ontario
Trent Toulouse
Ph.D. Student Psychology
McMaster University
Add my signature.
A. Nowaczek
Haileybury ON
Me too!
Marcus Hill, PhD
Senior Lecturer in Mathematics Education
Liverpool John Moores University
Yes please, add me. Deepak's statements about anything "quantum" are frequently contradicted by my basic coursework in physical chemistry, instrumental analysis, etc. It's as if he never touched a single chemistry textbook.
Brian Brauchler
Senior Chemistry undergraduate
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH
Sign my name as well.
Randy Tyson
Research Council Officer
National Research Council of Canada
"Me too"
Deepak Chopra is fine for a museum of hoaxes, but not a museum of REALITY.
Sign me up. Clifford William Beninger , Ph.D. Biology (Chemical Ecology), currently acting as independent consultant.
I'll sign the letter also.
Lyle D. Sanders
Virginia Beach, VA, USA
Signed
Trevor Hill
Parry Sound, Ontario.
I'll sign it too
Joel Hart
University of Calgary dropout
All around good guy
Signed.
Eric Verspoor
Skeptic & Canadian embarrassed by this mess with The venerable ROM and woo-meister Deepak Chopra.
Please cancel the show.
I love the ROM, but I don't love this.
Matthew Dawydchak
resident of Toronto
Jeff Satterley
PhD Student
Northeastern University
Boston, MA, USA
Oh, I totally support this.
Rebecca Miller
Ph.D. Student - Genetics
University of Georgia
I'm in. Spent a lot of time in Toronto, great city and the museum needs to sort itself out.
Andy, Manchester
Signed.
PK Jeaiem
MSc EE
Denmark
Er, the letter. Not Chopra.
Rebecca Miller
Ph.D. Student - Genetics
University of Georgia
I would like to add my name to this letter:
Amy Brown
ROM Member
Ben Haller
Ph.D. student, Evolutionary Biology
McGill University
If non-scientists can sign on, please include me:
Ian W. Hill
artist, supporter of CASS
Brooklyn, NY USA
Absolutely,
Ryan Whitmarsh
Microbiology PhD student
University of Pennsylvania
This we don't need
I'll sign this
John Burt
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan
Signed, sealed, and delivered
-Michael Spear
I'm also titleless but this is serious b.s.
Brent Morris
Toronto, ON
Me too, Larry.
Peter Moulton
Phoenix, Arizona
Love you ROM, but what was the rationale behind supporting this nut?
Matthew Orr
Mathematical Physics Student
University of Waterloo
I'll sign as well
Sarah Guermond
Biology student
University of Texas at Austin
Sign me up:
Dr Martin Lee
Post-doctoral Researcher - Chronic Diseases
Ottawa Hospital Research Institute/University of Ottawa
Hell, I'll sign too.
Roberto A. Valenzuela, J.D.
2010 Vernon L. Smith Fellow of Law and Economics, Chapman University
Flavio Antenucci
Application Developer
Toronto, Ontario
Thank you for this, Dr Moran and CASS. While a museum may reasonably present topics of both scientific and socio-cultural interest, Deepak Chopra's pseudoscience and anti-science belong in neither category. Except perhaps in a forum - including REAL scientists - to show how easily the ignorant and gullible are deluded.
Dr. Sowmya Dakshinamurti (MD)
Winnipeg, MB
me too
Grant Wickman B.Sc, M.Sc (UofA)
Ph.D Student - Medicine
University of Glasgow
Dr. L. Jonathan Dursi
Canadian Institute for Theoretical Astrophysics
University of Toronto
I'll get on board--- I can't stand quantum woo being validated like that.
Christopher Granade
Masters Student in Theoretical Physics, Perimeter Scholars International
University of Waterloo
I support the Committee for the Advancement of Scientific Skepticism.
Michiel Duvekot
Toronto
Michael Kubillus
I'm definitly with you.
S.C. Kavassalis
University of Toronto, Department of Physics
Damn right I will.
Mike Eheler
Los Angeles, CA
C. Ryan Shannon
Tulsa, OK
Absolutely.
Colin Jagoe
Instructional Leadership Consultant - Science and Technology
Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board
Francisco Rabang, IV
triOS College
Toronto, Ontario
Count me in.
Ricardo A.Saenz
Research Professor
Facultad de Ciencias - University of Colima
Mexico
Douglas Crews
B.S., UC San Diego
You have my support.
Earl Lyon
Fredericton
New Brunswick
I'll sign!
Jerry D. Harris
Associate Professor/Director of Paleontology
Physical Sciences Department
Dixie State College of Utah
Rosemary J. Redfield
Professor, Dept. of Zoology
University of British Columbia
I agree with the above comments!
Bob Barratt, RN BSN, MSc
Nurse Anesthetist
Stillwater, MN
I`ll certainly sign.
Scott Shannon
BSc(Eng) Engineering Physics - Queen`s University
Count me in:
John Scanlon
Palaeontologist
Riversleigh Fossil Centre
Mount Isa QLD Australia
Hope ROM learns something from this.
Signed,
Vaibhav Prakash, PhD student-Theoretical Physics,Massey University,New Zealand.
Me too.
Andrew Nelson
Geoscientist
Sydney
NSW
Australia
Chopra's continual and demonstrably false statements about....well just about everything...are an embarrassment and he should not be offered a platform by real scientists.
I'm not a scientist (though I'll be going back to school for my physics degree soon) so I'm not sure how much weight my name will add (or if my name will be added at all). But count me in:
Jason DeLaat
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Here's a rare case for you: an artist against psuedoscience.
Chris Felling
Victoria, British Columbia
I'm happy to sign this.
Nelson Milum,
Calgary, Alberta
Count me in
Trevor Wilkes
Hamilton, Ontario family man
I'm in...
Jill Mitchell Nielsen
MA Student - Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies in International Relations
University of British Columbia - Okanagan, Kelowna BC
Ashley F. Miller, MFA
Los Angeles, CA
And me.
Paul Wilson, Ph.D
Computer Scientist
Austin, Texas USA
I'd like to sign this too.
Yameen Huq
Undergrad- Chem Engineering
Georgia-Tech
I'll happily add my name to this growing list.
Sean Sunley
University of Regina
Not a scientist either, but I love me some rational thinking.
Etienne Mallette
Literature teacher at Maisonneuve College
Mirabel, Quebec
Oy...can't believe this actually might happen. Deepak Chopra? Please. I'm in.
Matthew Miller
Grand Rapids, MI
I am ashamed that such a charlatan is given such a big platform. As a high school teacher, I teach my kids to think and use their judgment everyday. Hopefully, the ROM reconsiders.
Sophie St-Pierre, Montreal,
Westmount High School,
English Montreal School Board
I'll sign.....
Michael J.A. Hamilton BSc, BEd, MD
Newmarket ON
Count me in
Steve Fines, MD
St. Cloud, MN
Count me in!
Miranda Gavrin, Indiana
I would like my name on this as well.
David Brue Brown
Disputanta, Virginia, USA
I'll sign that.
Robert Morrison
Edmonton, Alberta
I will sign that.
Dean Buchanan
Count me in.
Cameron Peters, MLSc
Science Instructor/Science Department Chair
Poulsbo, WA
I will sign this.
Robert DeCaire
M.Sc. student - Biology
University of Western Ontario
Please cancel this quack-show - something the ROM should not be seen to be endorsing.
Luke Tunmer
Director of Engineering
Qualcomm
Cambridge, UK.
(but a Canadian citizen).
I'll sign in on that one!
Andre Lessard,
University of Ottawa Student: Anthropology and Sociology
In.
Andrew H. Tripp
Soon-To-Be Honours Student at the University of Toronto
Count me in, too.
Lauren Adasiak Cocilova
science-enthusiast and inhabitant of the reality-based community
Rochester NY USA
Please add me.
Emanuele Oriano, B.A., C.Tran.
Toronto, ON
Please include my signature.
Sowmya N Rao
MS Student - Electrical Engineering
University of Southern California
Los Angeles, CA, USA
I'm in.
James Croy
Victoria, BC
I will absolutely sign
Ian Cromwell, MSc
BC Cancer Agency
Vancouver, BC
John M Holt
Principal Research Scientist
Haystack Observatory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
I'll sign that.
E.E. Ehrhardt
Senior Biochemistry undergraduate
Bowdoin College
Brunswick, Maine, USA
Count me in too.
Dr. James Hartman
University of Texas
Count me in
Bill Dileva
Scambusting! (on Facebook)
Windsor Ontario
I'll sign that,
Mr Chopra and his quackery do not
belong in the ROM.
On the sidewalk outside with a hat, maybe.
Ian M Lommerse.
4th spruce tree over.
Yukon Terr.
Please add my signature:
Steven R. Fulton
Trenton, ON
Excellent letter. Please include my signature.
Shari M. Jackson, MD
Neuroradiologist
Seattle, WA
Please add my signature to this list.
Michael Morgan
Director`s Circle Member of the Royal Ontario Museum
I'll sign that.
Kyle Falcon
MA. Student - History
Wilfrid Laurier University
Me too.
Robert Allison
Professor, Computer Studies
Algonquin College
Happy to sign
Joy Kidd
Science Teacher
McKinney, Texas
It is important to let the museum know this guy is a fraud.
Sign me up
I canceled my membership to the ROM because of this.
John Fruhwirth
B. Math ( Univ. of Waterloo)
Likewise; count me in:
AJ Milne
Ottawa
(Adding: the ROM is extremely unwise to lend unto that loon any credibility. The only legit way I could picture Chopra turning up in anything a responsible institution of that stripe might present would be as exhibit 'A' in a lecture on the popularity of quackery and pseudoscience, and how to spot the same.)
I support this letter.
Kirsten MacKenzie, M.Sc., R.P.Bio.
Put down my signature.
Hugh McBratney, M.Eng.
Toronto, Ontario.
Happily adding my name to the list.
Darren Olenick
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Megan Igo
Professor of Biology
Merced College
Happy to sign.
Daryl LeBlanc
Senior Biology Teacher
Halton District School Board
I'll sign
Alix L. Reid, B.A. (honours), LL.B.
Duncan, B.C.
I can't stand Chopra. He is a disgrace to the medical profession. I'll be happy to sign.
John A. Yarzagaray M.D.
Chicago, IL
As a Canadian, I find this deeply distressing. Chopra's quantum quackery has nothing to do with science. I'll sign the letter.
Stephen Ross
Red Deer, AB
Louise Tardif
Calgary, Alberta
I'll sign! I'm looking forward to bringing my Finnish friend to the ROM this summer - but I won't give them my money or support if they intend to pass it on to that guy.
Jennifer Mulligan
B.Sc in biology from UWO
London, Ontario
Count me, too.
Jim Last
Sacramento, CA
I'm in.
Andrew C. Holmes
St. John's, Newfoundland
You can count me in too.
Paul McGrath
PhD student (Physics)
University of Waterloo
Oh, I'll certainly sign it.
Christopher L. Ogilvie, B.A. (Hons)
Juris Doctor Student
University of Toronto
Nathan Mellema, J.D.
Sioux Falls, SD
Scott Johnson
Science student and teacher
Langley, BC, Canada
Count me in too.
Jonathan Ridley
Newcastle, Uk
BA Phiolosophy dropout!
Sign my name on this, too.
Peter Cook
Illustrator, science cartoonist
Toronto ON
Signed.
Gregory Bieniek
Chicago, IL
Add my name too:
Erik Davis
Toronto
I'd like to sign.
Dr. James Wallis
Institute of Biological Chemistry
Washington State University
I will certainly add my name to this.
Garry J. VanGelderen
Retired Engineer
Penetanguishene, ON
Signed.
Donald Atkin
MSc student (Psychology)
U. of Alberta
My name as well, please.
Michael McCarron
B.A., RMT, B.Cool.
Whitby, Ontario.
I'll sign
Michael Heath
Science student, supporter, & opponent of woo
Gaylord, Michigan U.S.A.
I'm tempted to buy a ROM membership just to return it in disgust. Sign me up
Andrew Davidson
Toronto, ON
I'm in.
Don Cates (BSc U of Manitoba)
Retired medical research tech.
In:
Richard B. Hoppe, Ph.D.
retired Professor, Kenyon College, Ohio, USA.
I'll Sign,
Leith Jones,
Ontario resident.
I'm In,
Gavin Sparby
Hibbing, MN
After thinking about this a bit I bet Larry just wants to get the real names of all of his readers. Everyone is outing themselves (including me) so it seems to be working.
I Concur
Peter Harbison
Darwin
Australia
Include me in:
Sharon Crawford
Madeira Park, BC
Cancel the invitation
Kevin Keenan
PhD Student, QUB.
Put my name on that.
Travis S. Loosli PhD (Philosophy) EdS (School Psychology).
Count me in!
Christopher Mazur,
Kelowna, B.C.
I'm in too,
Ian Simpson,
Ex-Toronto resident.
(Citizen of the universe,
and a gentleman to boot.)
Definitely Mr. Chopra should not be talking his usual unscientific new-age psycho babble at the ROM.
Mr. Larry Gagnon, M.Sc.
Retired Petroleum Geologist
I'm in.
Chris Roberts
Programmer
NF, Canada.
I'll sign that
Danny Keith James
Vancouver, B.C.
You can add me to the list of signatories.
Aaron A. Heiss, M.Sc.
Ph.D. student in Evolutionary Biology
Dalhousie University
I loved their Darwin exhibit. This, not so much. I'm in.
Andrew Dunn
Saratoga NY
No title, but an occaisional patron of museums.
Trevor Zimmerman
Edmonton, AB
Count me in
Pablo Aran
Ph.D Student
Department of Chemistry
University of Cambridge
I'll sign too.
Ryan C Herrington, Kitchener-Waterloo resident.
I'll sign
Nick Gorton, MD, DABEM
Davis, CA
I'll sign too:
Kim Sweeney
M.S. Cognitive Science
Graduate Student
UC San Diego
Wow. Definitely count me in.
Shaun Wilson
Undergrad - Computer Science
University of New England
NSW Australia
Sheesh, you guys are so uptight. Now that Deepak gets a chance to raise your consciousness and expand your 'ways of knowing' the ROM will be able to lay on seminars about palmistry and phrenology around the fountain powered by the perpetual motion machine. Lit, of course, by power from cold fusion.
Count me in. No title, but I love museums, especially the ROM. My husband, children and I visit science museums frequently.
Tiffany H. Cox
Des Moines, Iowa
Please Add my name:
Kevin Jones
Calgary, Alberta
I'll Sign
Brian Crockett
SW Developer
You may add my name.
Barbara A. Meissner
Archaeologist
University of Texas at San Antonio
I still can still barely believe he was considered.
Josh Triska
PhD Student, Electrical Engineering
Oregon State University
Please include my signature on this letter. Deepak Chopra's pseudoscientific nonsense undermines the credibility of this respectable institution.
David Donald, P. Eng
Winnipeg
Robert B Brown
Electrical Engineer, Retired
Lexington KY USA
I will sign:
Yuriy Zubarev,
Software Engineer,
Vancouver, BC
Benjamin Odenheimer
Undergraduate, St. John's College Santa Fe
Sasha Ramani
Candidate for BBA, BMath
University of Waterloo
Wilfrid Laurier University
Count me in too!
Steve Gibb
Maplewood, NJ
Please add my humble signature.
Nancy Holst
Mother of 6
Promoter of Science and Reason
Chicago, Illinois
The ROM had a tremendous influence on me in my youth, and I am dismayed that it is appearing to pander to the ignorant with this invitation.
Richard Prins
Montréal, Canada
Count me in, too. Keep up the good fight CASS and CFI.
David Roscoe
North Bay, Ontario
As a Canadian, I am embarrassed by this. Sign me up.
Joseph W. Brown
Ph.D. Student, Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
University of Michigan
Please add my name.
Stephanie Hevenor
Laboratory Instructor
Nipissing University
I'll definitely sign that.
Michael D. Barton
Portland, OR
Greg Laden
I'll sign that.
Roger Hoffmore
Professional Geologist and Educator
California
Mark Propp
Winnipeg, Manitoba
I'll sign
Peter A Hasek
MS, Physics
Certified Business Manager
Project Management Professional
Commerce Township, MI
From the Pacific North West and worried about the state of fluff brained non-arguments being promoted as "truths". Science FTW!
Cameron Coale
Everett, Wa
I would love to sign it. I hope to major in Biology once I transfer.
John Capilos
Columbia, SC
Sign me on!
Andrew Rihn
BA, Kent State University
I'll gladly add my signature. Deepak Chopra is a snake oil salesman of the highest order.
I'll sign it gladly.
John Melby
Emeritus Professor of Music
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
I fully agree with and support your letter protesting the Royal Ontario Museum's invitation to Deepak Chopra. This kind of non-science nonsense does not belong in such institutions.
Ian Wood
Austin, Texas USA
Tim Falkenberg
Whitehorse, Yukon
Al McDonell
Common Sense
I'll sign that...
Darin Cowan, BSc
Ottawa, Ontario
Please include me on the petition
And the list keeps growing. Count me in.
Brian Thompson
Aurora, Ontario
Gary A Gabbard
Cincinnati Ohio
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