This year’s upcoming Ethereal Summit in Masbeth, New York, has a strong lineup of speakers. One of them, however, has begun to raise some eyebrows: Deepak Chopra. Detractors are wondering if Chopra, a figurehead in the New Age movement, is too pseudo-scientific for the summit. On the flip side, supporters say Chopra is highly influential and can bring new fans into the fold of crypto. 

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Chopra in Ethereal Summit’s Speaker Spotlight

Deepak Chopra sticks out on Ethereal Summit’s speakers list, since his professional work has leaned more spiritual than technical, administrative, or political.

Chopra is no stranger to ambivalent reactions, to be sure. On the one hand, he’s become an extraordinarily successful businessman with a large fan base and professorships at Columbia Business School and Northwestern University. On the other hand, Chopra has also been charged with advocating for pseudo-scientific practices, as happens to many under the New Age umbrella.

Now, in the decentralized world that is the cryptoverse, a Big Tent approach is the only approach. Though as ConsenSys’ Ethereal Summit gets closer, more murmurs have started breaking out on social media suggesting Deepak Chopra’s speaking slot might be out of place at the event.

Ethereal Summit Speaker Spotlight – Deepak Chopra @DeepakChopra @EtherealSummit #blockchain #ethereum https://t.co/KXFWgclCXL https://t.co/fIJZsWjoln @ConsenSys pic.twitter.com/5t9Z0vSLpw

— Ethereal Summit (@EtherealSummit) April 11, 2018

ConsenSys Employee Responds

Speaking of social media murmurings, self-described ConsenSys employee Redditor jdbender66 responded to the growing criticisms of Chopra’s forthcoming Ethereal Summit speech:

“I work at ConsenSys and actually wasn’t aware of the controversy surrounding him until reading some of the backlash to this announcement. ConsenSys strives for radical inclusiveness regardless of someone’s gender, race, background, or beliefs. A lot of people may not agree with his philosophy, but you cannot deny he is a prominent author and thought leader for his readers. Having him at the event is no way an endorsement of what he does by ConsenSys. It is merely an attempt to get unique perspective from someone who has a lot of experience in a certain field. In fact, because of some people’s comments, I am even more excited to see any panels he is on lol.”

They’re right, in that Chopra’s prominence cannot be denied. And the summit’s philosophy of radical inclusiveness is an admirable one.

But the way Deepak arose to prominence can be scrutinized critically, which is the gist of what detractors are getting at. In the very least, it’ll be interesting to see how Chopra’s speech plays out. The summit takes place May 11th through May 12th.

What’s your take? Do you think having Deepak Chopra at the Ethereal Summit is a good or bad idea? Sound off in the comments below. 

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Images via Ethereal Summit, New Statesman