anyone believe in Astrology?

dd972

Been reading up about the subject and things like newspapers horoscopes are nonsense, however when you have a proper study of it, it's seems quite an interesting subject.

Not a wholesale believer, however I find that I don't tend to like most Taurus people

kylith

I really don't see how anyone can place any stock in Astrology at all. The 'star signs' are arbitrarily picked groups of stars hundreds or thousands of light years away, how can they possibly have any effect on humans on earth? Or, for example, Mars affecting a twelfth of people on earth in the same way, really? It would be a rather noticeable thing if all Capricorns met a new partner on the same day, or if all Librans got some bad news at the same time, wouldn't it? Even if they did once have a bearing on people the earth's rotation and angle has changed so that none of the stars in the sky appears in the same place it did when the Greeks were naming groups of stars as an aid to navigation.

Horoscopes, whether in the paper or drawn up by an astrologer, are just Barnum Statements (AKA the Forer Effect), they sound spot on, but are actually so vague that they could apply to anyone, as tests have shown; take a group of people and get them to fill in forms for an astrology reading. Later give them all the exact same reading, see how many think it's spot on for their horoscope (hint, the vast majority will). Derren Brown did this, I know, as did Penn and Teller. I'll dig out some more rigorous testing when I get home from work. You can do this on a smaller scale by getting someone who believes in astrology, then read them out a horoscope that is not theirs from the paper, see if they think it sounds right before you tell them it's not theirs. Do this with as many horoscopes as you can before they hit you.

Horoscopes are a jokey novelty and should be treated as such.

endacl

kylith wrote: »

I really don't see how anyone can place any stock in Astrology at all. The 'star signs' are arbitrarily picked groups of stars hundreds or thousands of light years away, how can they possibly have any effect on humans on earth? And, for example, Taurus effecting a twelfth of people on earth in the same way, really? It would be a rather noticeable thing if all Capricorns met a new partner on the same day, or if all Librans got some bad news at the same time. Even if they did once have a bearing on people the earth's rotation and angle has changed so that none of the stars in the sky appears in the same place it did when the Greeks were naming groups of stars as an aid to navigation.

Horoscopes, whether in the paper or drawn up by an astrologer, are just Barnum Statements (AKA the Forer Effect), they sound spot on, but are actually so vague that they could apply to anyone, as tests have shown; take a group of people and get them to fill in forms for an astrology reading. Later give them all the exact same reading, see how many think it's spot on for their horoscope (hint, the vast majority will). Derren Brown did this, I know, as did Penn and Teller. I'll dig out some more rigorous testing when I get home from work. You can do this on a smaller scale by getting someone who believes in astrology, then read them out a horoscope that is not theirs from the paper, see if they think it sounds right before you tell them it's not theirs. Do this with as many horoscopes as you can before they hit you.

Horoscopes are a jokey novelty and should be treated as such.

Got there just ahead of me, K.

Aztro

Daily stars in newspapers bear a similar relationship to Astrology as the cartoons do to fine art. Modern astrology is divided into three areas which allow you to develop a psychological profile, explore compatibility with others, and predict your well being at a future date.

Astrology is about as good at predicting future events as the Mayans were. But it might be fair to say we didn't really understand the Mayan calendar. Interestingly enough, that didn't stop us from deciding what they were trying to do and getting very excited when our imagined intent threatened our existence.

Ultimately astrology is interpretive. If you see it as a useful psychological tool, then it is such. If you see jokey novelty, that's what it is. I notice a lot of people see bovine poo. We should all aspire to such creative imaginings.

maccored

Aztro wrote: »

Ultimately astrology is interpretive.

I would agree. Its up there with tea leaf reading.