Thank God I’M a Sucker!: (The Theory of Conscious Evolution)

By Dinesh Verma “Kant”

Thank God I'm a Sucker is an autobiographical account of an eye surgeon, demonstrating through his own personal battles the conflicts between the ancient arts of healing of the East and the Western system of Medicine. He explores the power of the mind on the human body and the impact this has on the genes. In the early chapters he explains the current scientific thinking about age-related disorders and their management, while developing his own ideas of how the placebo effect and personal belief systems work, quoting extensively from scientific journals and ancient vedas. He then proposes a new theory of human evolution, contradicting Charles Darwin and coining novel terms like "Ipsicura" and "Concion". In the last chapter he gives convincing arguments against Atheists like Richard Dawkins to force his reader to think as to why a firm belief in "God" could in fact be an evolutionary stable strategy for the human race.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Nov 23, 2011
• ISBN: 9781467885751

Dinesh Verma “Kant”

Dr Dinesh Verma is a British Consultant Eye Surgeon, Inventor and Artist. After qualifying as a doctor in 1979, Dinesh had extensive training in Ophthalmology in India, UK & USA and was appointed in the National Health Service (NHS) as a Consultant Ophthalmologist. Dinesh has carried out cutting edge collaborative research with the Department of Computer Sciences and Department of Applied Physics at the University of Hull, England publishing papers in highly rated peer-reviewed journals. In 2001 he won the PPP Medical Foundation’s prestigious mid-career award that funded his research sabbatical at Wilmer Eye Institute Baltimore, USA. He then moved to Los Angeles with the team and was appointed to a full time clinical faculty position at Doheny Eye Institute, University of Southern California, USA Dinesh has invented several ophthalmic devices and has published a book on contemporary political/religious philosophy after the September 11 attacks. While working at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, he wrote most of ni4ni but completed it after moving to Rugby where he is currently CEO & Founder a business i4vision Diagnostics (www.i4vision.co.uk) to commercialize his invention Personal Ophthalmic Diagnostic System.

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© 2011 by Dinesh Verma Kant. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 11/18/2011

ISBN: 978-1-4678-8574-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4678-8575-1 (ebk)

Printed in the United States of America

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Acknowledgements

A Very Personal Introduction

Chapter 1

Ageing Eyes

Chapter 2

Stressing away the ‘Self’

Chapter 3

To live or not to live? That is the question

Chapter 4

The Trusting ‘Soul’

Chapter 5

Modern Medicine—a double-edged sword

Chapter 6

May God be with You

Chapter 7

A sucker maybe, but with the power of Ipsicura

Chapter 8

Evolution: a play of dice or a game of chess?

Chapter 9

A Deist can beat an Atheist any day!

Bibliography

Dedicated to my father, Shri Anand Prakash Verma,

who has suffered most since my mother’s death—

"Thank you for all you have done for me, Daddy Ji;

the fruits of my success are a direct result of

your sacrifices in life."

Acknowledgements

There are a few people I wish to acknowledge in this book who have made a contribution to make this work possible. First and foremost all my patients, who have given me insights into the workings of the human body and mind. I am grateful to my partner and companion for the last three years, Louise; if it wasn’t for her I would have given up by now and this book would have forever remained in my mind without seeing the light of the day. She saved me from a life worse than death and gave me the support and inspiration to write this book. She listened to my ramblings, and sometimes completely ridiculous ideas, yet never gave the impression that they were nonsense. It was difficult for someone like me, who started to speak English at the age of fourteen, to express myself clearly in this fascinating language, but it was Louise who edited the text, made my confabulations understandable and gave it a touch of panache.

The others who have given me utmost support, despite my occasional erratic behaviour, have been my brother Deepak, my bhabhi (sister-in-law) Urvashi and their two lovely children Gaurav and Medha. I must also thank my friends like Dr. Rakesh Bakshi and Dr. Naresh Motwani, who have helped me in my hours of need. No words can express my sense of gratitude to them all.

And last, but by no means least, I would like to thank my son, who has also been a pillar of support during some difficult times, having much responsibility on his young shoulders, being solid in his resolve and showing me the way, many times, when I tended to wander. Thanks for all your pearls of wisdom and ocean of love Nitish, without which I would have not have survived those ordeals.

30763.jpg The art of medicine consists in amusing the patient while nature cures the disease.—Voltaire

30765.jpg Body and soul cannot be separated for purposes of treatment, for they are one and indivisible.—C. Jeff Miller

30767.jpg To array a man’s will against his sickness is the supreme art of medicine.—Henry Ward Beecher

30769.jpg The only real difference between medicine and poison is the dose… . and intent.—Oscar G. Hernandez, MD

30771.jpg Each work has to pass through these stages—ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood.—Swami Vivekananda

A Very Personal Introduction

Since the time I can remember, my mother always called me buddhu. The literal translation of the Hindi word is ‘stupid’ which was a bit puzzling considering my academic achievements; a merit scholarship-holder for five years in one of the best medical schools in India and then successfully coming through one of the most competitive examinations on earth for post-graduate admission to ‘the number one’ Medical Institute of India. I always considered it as a term of endearment, but the real meaning of the word buddhu became clear to me much later in life. It was not ‘stupid’ or even ‘naive’—it would be better translated as ‘gullible’, what the Americans call a ‘sucker’. My mother was a very religious lady and had a firm belief in God, which she inculcated in me during my childhood. So, regarding the current Western scientific interpretations by the likes of Professor Richard Dawkins, she would have been gullible, living under a ‘God delusion’ and, hence, a sucker too.

In 2002, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. At that time, I was working as a faculty in the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. I wanted her to come to America to get the ‘best’ care in the world. She would have nothing of the sort. My brother, a retired fighter pilot from the Indian Air Force, took her instead to the Indian equivalent of a veteran’s hospital in Delhi. The doctors who examined her told her that the cancer had spread to her lymph nodes in the armpit and, when they took the biopsy, it showed an aggressive type of tumour. Radical surgery was planned to remove her breasts and axillary lymph nodes. The prognosis was poor and the surgery life threatening. When she was told about it, she laughed it off saying that nothing was going to happen to her. I took time off from my work to be with her during the surgery, but my trip was delayed because I had to take special permission to leave from the US immigration authorities; I had been granted permanent residency in the USA at that time based on extraordinary ability. She was absolutely certain that she would be alive and well after the surgery and I would see her whenever I could get back to India. That is exactly what happened. The surgery went off well without any complications and after subsequent courses of chemotherapy and radiotherapy she was cured of her breast cancer. All the doctors were amazed by her recovery and the self-belief that she was going to be all right. She attributed her recovery to her firm belief in God.

In 2005 I was back in England, living in Surrey, when my parents came for a visit. My mother had no health problems other than some arthritis in her knees, for which she underwent arthroscopic surgery, and she was coping well with a slight limp. I was very close to her and we used to have ‘heart-to-heart’ talks early in the mornings. I was having problems in my marriage at that time and she wanted to help resolve the issues, but I was embarrassed to tell her the intimate details of my conjugal relations and the real reasons for the marital discord, so I told her not to get involved. She was heartbroken. I could see it in her face. She didn’t say anything to me but started to meditate more in the mornings during her regular prayers. A few days later, I noticed a slight asymmetry in her face and, when I did a preliminary neurological examination, I suspected that she may have had a minor stroke as her facial muscles on the left side were not as strong as those on the right. I took her straight to the local hospital Accident & Emergency department and they admitted her for further tests and observation. During this period her speech became slightly slurred, but we continued to have our chats about life in general as I stayed with her in the hospital room. She told me that her life had been fulfilled and now it was time for her to go. I dismissed this saying that she had many more years to live; she was only 72 at that time. The following day, the brain scan report arrived. The doctor called me into his office and gave me the bad news; my mother had a very large brain tumour that was beyond surgical repair. She was given a maximum of three months to live. I was dumbfounded. She had been absolutely fine a few days ago with no neurological deficit. It was truly shocking and very unusual to see a large tumour like this develop at such rapid pace. I suspected that it might have been a recurrence of her breast cancer that had metastasised (spread) to her brain. I took her scans to one of the top doctors at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, who specialized in Neuro-Oncology (the study of cancers of the nervous system). He confirmed that the tumour was a primary one—a cancer of new origin. It had no features of a metastases or a secondary from the breast cancer. He also agreed with the first doctor that the tumour was too large to be excised, as it would be impossible to remove all of it without causing major neurological damage and serious threat to her life. Even if the tumour were removed, it would only prolong her life by a few months. I conveyed all this to my father and discussed it with my older brother and sister in India. None of them believed in the opinion of the UK doctors. My father even thought that I was trying to save money by not allowing her to be operated on in the UK, which of course was totally unjustified. The consensus was to bring her back to India for further opinions. My