Want to Lead a Happier Life? Talk to Your Genes

 

wellbeingBy Deepak Chopra, MD, Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD

 

Genetics may be on the verge of solving a very complex question in a revolutionary but quite simple way. The question is, What does it take to be happy? The question never goes away. It hangs over our heads every day. The possible answers are many, but they follow two general trends whose results, frankly, have been disappointing. One trend is psychological, holding that happiness is an emotional state. The other trend is philosophical, holding that happiness is a mental state. When someone is unhappy, psychologists aim to improve their mood, largely by addressing anxiety, depression, and various psychological wounds from the past. A philosopher, on the other hand, would examine the underlying idea of happiness itself and why it is or isn’t feasible. In the end, happiness is all about health and wellbeing.

 

Yet after thousands of years of deep thinking and a hundred years of psychotherapy, the condition that the vast majority of people find themselves in is marked by total confusion. We muddle through on a wobbly combination of wishful thinking, hope, bouts of high and low spirits, denial, family ties, love, distraction, and the constant pursuit of external pleasures, as if happiness can be cobbled together more or less randomly.

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A New Hot Button: Consciousness-Driven Evolution

Screen Shot 2015-07-06 at 12.27.09 PMBy Deepak Chopra, MD and Rudolph E. Tanzi, PhD

 

 

 

 

 

 

Science is meant to be the opposite of a belief system. No one underlined this point more securely than Charles Darwin, who devised a theory of evolution that defied the strongest belief of his time, the all but universal belief in the bible version of the origins of man. The fossil record supported a notion contrary to the Bible that creation was a process, not a single event dictated by a divine Creator. Despite a century and a half of proof that Darwin was right, taking God out of evolution still sticks in the throat of many people.

 

Pollsters find, to the dismay of trained scientists, that God remains in play for many when it comes to our origins. For example, a 2013 Pew Research poll found that one-third of respondents believe that human beings have always existed in their present form. When broken down by religion, this anti-Darwin, pro-Bible view is held by 64% of white evangelical Protestants and 50% of black Protestants broken down by political party, only 43% of Republicans believe that human beings evolved over time versus 67% of Democrats and 65% of independents.

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Big Idea 2014: You Will Transform Your Own Biology

This post is part of a series in which LinkedIn Influencers pick one big idea that will shape 2014. See all the ideas here.

By Deepak Chopra, MD and  Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D.

To date, one of biology’s greatest achievements, mapping the human genome, is only just beginning to translate into medical advances. But in 2014 there will likely be more headlines about another type of study in genetics that is already impacting everyone. (more…)

Dear TED, Is it “Bad Science” or a “Game of Thrones”?

Originally published on Huffington Post on April 18, 2013 at 8:51 am

By Deepak Chopra, MD. FACP, Stuart Hameroff, MD, Menas C. Kafatos, Ph.D., Rudolph E. Tanzi, Ph.D., Neil Theise, MD

sages-scientists

One of modern science’s great strengths is that any questionable finding dies a quick death if it’s invalid. The safeguards are mainly two: Your new finding must be repeatable when other researchers run the same experiments, and peer review by qualified scientists subjects every new finding to microscopic scrutiny. So it surprised the millions of admirers of TED, whose conferences attract wide attention to new, cutting-edge ideas, when that organization decided to practice semi-censorship. (more…)

The Chopra Foundation Announces Recipients of 2012 Rustum Roy Spirit Award

Deepak Chopra, MD has announced that Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams will receive the 2012 Spirit of Rustum Roy Award for their exemplary work that embodies the Chopra Foundation’s vision to help create a just, sustainable, healthy and peaceful world.

San Diego, CA (PRWEB) January 11, 2012

Deepak Chopra, MD, founder of The Chopra Foundation, recently announced the recipients of the 2012 Spirit of Rustum Roy Award: Dr. Rudolph Tanzi, Joel Primack and Nancy Abrams. The awards will be presented at the Third Annual International Sages and Scientists Symposium, held from March 3 to 5, 2012 at La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, CA.

“It is an honor and privilege to award these recipients for their commitment to a vision greater than themselves—the expansion of science into the field of consciousness,” said Dr. Chopra.
The Spirit of Rustum Roy Award originated in 2010 in tribute to Rustum Roy, a scientist and researcher for over sixty years and board member of The Chopra Foundation. The prize is given to those making major contributions to the scientific understanding of consciousness and helping to move humanity towards a just, sustainable, healthy and peaceful world.

Past recipients include Dr. Menas Kafatos, Fletcher Jones Endowed Professor in Computational Physics and Vice Chancellor for Special Projects, Chapman University; and Stuart Hameroff, MD, Professor at the University of Arizona, Associate Director at The Center for Consciousness Studies.

Dr. Rudolph Tanzi is the Joseph and Rose Kennedy Professor of Neurology at Harvard University, and Director of Genetics and Aging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Dr. Tanzi co-discovered three of the four known Alzheimer’s disease genes and is currently developing therapies to treat this devastating disease.

Dr. Tanzi has received numerous awards for his research, was named one of the “Harvard 100: Most Influential Alumni” and more recently the “Rock Star of Science” in GQ Magazine. He has co-authored over 400 research articles and the popular trade book “Decoding Darkness: The Search for the Genetic Causes of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Dr. Joel Primack is Distinguished Professor of Physics at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and the director of the University of California High-Performance AstroComputing Center. He has been one of the leaders in the creation of the modern theory of the universe and the formation and evolution of galaxies.

Dr. Primack has been active for forty years in bringing science into national policymaking; he created the Congressional Science and Technology Fellowship program and the program on Science and Human Rights of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Nancy Ellen Abrams is a writer, philosopher of science, singer/songwriter, and lawyer. She is the inventor of Scientific Mediation and has worked in science policy for the U.S Congress and the government of Sweden.

With a ringside seat to the modern cosmological revolution, she has worked with Primack to turn the modern scientific picture into a source of meaning and inspiration that could help to solidify the bonds of humankind. With Primack, she has co-authored two books: The View from the Center of the Universe (Riverhead, 2006) and The New Universe and the Human Future (Yale, 2011).