A reasonable person with common sense and a sober memory, may not plunge into the comprehension of the antiscientific nonsense below, because, even with basic knowledge of the school curriculum of the corresponding course, you risk bursting with laughter. We also ask the faint of heart to move away from the monitors. And do not say later that we did not warn you …
'Astrology is an exact science, everything said in horoscopes must come true. Only it is not known when, where, with whom and what exactly. '
Stas Yankovsky
So, nevertheless, the audience of the ignorant or simply curious, who did not want to leave us, as you probably already understood, we will talk about astrology – the ancient belief that all cosmic bodies mystically affect all kinds of earthly and human processes.
According to astrological adepts, knowing their location in heavenly space, one can predict the future. In addition, according to the same astrologers, the configuration of the planets at the time a person is born is able to program his character and certain events in his life. In fact, astrology is a messy heap of outdated ideas about the world order, slightly finished off by modern clowns. Astrologers, in an attempt to prove that science is no longer the same, prefer to obtain information not through experimental selection, but by referring to ancient literature. Moreover, the more ancient the source of information, the more valuable and authoritative it is considered in the highly intellectual circles of astrologers.
The peak of the popularity of this subject of discussion falls on the Middle Ages, but to this day the disputes on this matter do not subside. To understand where the legs grow from, let's turn to history.
Belief in the magical power of heavenly bodies is not characteristic of any people in Europe. People believed in gods, spirits, totem animals, and in general, in anything, but not in stars. Such views are characteristic of the Indo-Aryans – in particular, European authors freely retold the Avesta or distorted the image of Zarathustra. Initially, this was a privilege of the noble and was practiced exclusively at the courts of princes and kings. An example is John XXII, who himself wrote books on astrology and even alchemy.
The Catholic Church has never organized large round-ups on astrologers – only against certain presumptuous individuals. This led to the fact that when in the twentieth century they turned to the study of the culture of the Indo-Aryans, the Avestan pantheon and the Farsistan, the first studies were perceived with ridicule: during the Middle Ages and the New Age, the images of Greek mythology were firmly intertwined in the minds of Europeans, and traditions were added to them Romans to guess on small objects in order to predict big events, plus a carefully cultivated belief that 'everything Asian is so mysterious' … Modern man has not gone far from this either: he still needs a beautiful fairy tale about the 'secret knowledge of Eastern sages'.
How it works?
Astrologers' version
There are many theories:
1. Due to fields not yet recognized by science, celestial bodies physically affect terrestrial objects.
2. According to the creation of the Gods, earthly life is a reflection of heaven. Based on this, a person is part of the universe, and therefore all movements in heaven are directly reflected in the behavior of people.
3. Each planet emits waves of a certain frequency, and the human brain reacts by tuning in to them like a radio.
4. Lesson in astrology develops a person's extrasensory abilities. And to transfer consciousness to the mode of extrasensory perception, astrologers need a horoscope.
5. Our actions are subordinate to the will of the Gods, and the planets are only a cosmic clock.
6.… and similar delirium sucked out of the finger.
Skeptics version
The Barnum effect is one of the properties of the human psyche. In other words, a psychological effect. Its essence is as follows: if the average person in the street presents a generalized, vague description of a person, while indicating that it was compiled using nanotechnology, and by British scientists directly for him personally, then in an incredible way he will definitely recognize himself in it and even call this description 'amazing accurate ', despite the fact that this description includes thousands of other, the same' phenomenal and exceptional 'personalities.
Other psychological effects
In addition to the Barnum Effect, there are many other psychological effects that can help your brain caringly wishful thinking while reassuring you that you are making exceptionally good decisions based on purely personal experience. Let's name some of them:
– The Rosenthal effect, forcing you to fulfill the prophecy yourself;
– The mistake of a well-aimed shooter – forces you to confuse cause and effect;
– The Dr. Fox effect – makes you believe the experts selflessly;
– The Dunning-Kruger effect – allowing you to believe that you are an experienced guru, although in fact you are a neophyte.
And there are thousands of such examples!
Apophenia – due to a 'short circuit' in the human brain, the idea of the existence of a certain relationship between random or meaningless data is firmly settled. Moreover, he inflates this 'discovery' to the dimensions of a universal scale, which makes the situation even more comical. In fact, thanks to apophenia, its carriers 'have the ability' to decipher the cryptography on the fences or to add scraps of facts and ridiculous assumptions into a conspiracy theory.
Self-identification – after reading your zodiac characteristics, which by all means say how cool and light chuvachello you are (criticism, of course, is present, but insignificantly), the patient involuntarily begins to identify her with himself and gradually gets used to this image. The whole catch is that all the characteristics consist of flattery, repeatedly rephrased in their own way.
After the fact – often we do not notice that we learn about many so-called predictions after the fact. In other words, some homegrown Nostradamus, having predicted a bunch of cataclysms and emergencies, after committing something from this heap of prophesied crap, declares himself the Messiah with the words: 'But it coincided! Learn to read between the lines! ', While delicately omitting all other, unfulfilled prophecies.
Doubtful accuracy – you don't have to go to a fortuneteller to predict certain events. It is enough just to understand a certain area. For example, he promised an obvious victory for the Spanish national football team over the Russian national team – and that's it: you are a great predictor.
Astrology and Science
While scientists went headlong into the development of experimental theories, large hadron colliders, etc., astrologers did not waste their time and without a twinge of conscience called themselves scientists, prudently launching their tentacles into the fragile minds of the younger generation. With all this, they are trying in every possible way to divert the consciousness of young people from the idea that astrological knowledge has nothing to do with the scientific method – the basis of the foundations of any science. And this is despite the fact that at least some more or less decent systematization of knowledge to eliminate numerous contradictions in astrology does not exist!
Astronomy and astrology
Until the Age of Enlightenment, astrology was the main sponsor of astronomy. In other words, in those distant times, many astronomers worked as astrologers in order to scrape together their daily bread, i.e. find a source of funding for astronomy. The consequence was that even today, not everyone is able to distinguish an astronomer from an astrologer, naively believing that both are just varieties of the second. We hasten to correct: today the only thing identical in astrology and astronomy is the system for calculating the position of several celestial bodies in the solar system relative to the twelve constellations of the Zodiac. That's all.
A horoscope is a kind of “fortune-telling” chart, depicting the position of the planets at a certain time. When drawing up a horoscope, an astrologer takes into account the location of the planets according to their location in the sky at the time of a person's birth or when an event occurs. At the same time, the 'true astrologers' themselves are inclined to believe that only individual forecasts can be considered horoscopes, in contrast to the cheap bullshit published in newspapers and magazines for mass consumption. Although, in fact, the difference is only in price, the original quality is practically the same.
Astrologers
First of all, let's try to understand what the main 'mission' of astrologers is. It should be noted that these individuals have simply enchanting conceit due to the 'unsurpassed' ability to stupidly drive the date of birth into the astrological program and press Enter. A moment later, a horoscope appears on the computer screen as if by a pike's command (oh, miracle!). The task of the astrologer is, with a clever look, 'spreading thought along the tree', philosophically chew its contents to a hamster who has already opened his mouth, and then take money (and, as a rule, considerable money) for his consultation.
What happens if you ask an astrologer to provide evidence of the efficiency of the 'science' for which he cares? – A primitive assurance that the stars never lie. From his point of view, this is an axiom that does not require proof. If such are nevertheless required, the astronomer will certainly resort to ranting about Aristotles and Keplers: these personalities must have some weight for us – sages are not mistaken. Proofs are needed – please: a thousand and one cases of miraculous implementations of the predictions of various astrologers. And it doesn't matter at all that all of them will be given after the fact. There is one weapon against such stubbornness: tell the patient that only one single objective multiple scientific test can be considered scientific evidence, and not hundreds of unnecessary single examples. But it is not so easy to put it on the shoulder blades: as a proof of his innocence, the astrologer will certainly ask you to give your exact date, time and coordinates of birth, then he will drive all this information into his astrological program – and voila – the verdict is ready! According to the predictions of all the same always true stars, you are simply a spiritless and limited brake, unable to understand the subtle essence of astrology. And therefore, there is nothing to talk with someone like you …
Astrologers in faces
Michel Nostradamus – he is a medieval healer, he is a baker, he is a famous predictor, who has a very indirect relationship to the now popular natal astrology. The author of numerous rhymes, periodically printed in small books and sold at fairs for the amusement of medieval cattle.
Pavel Globa is a popular liar and provocateur in all the CIS, known for his 'achievements' in the field of predicting almost never-coming 'prophecies', which in no way affects either his reputation as a specialist astrologer, or the profitability of his business.
Research Astrologers
This is a special category of stargazers. Special signs: men under 30 years old, quite adequate, rummaging around in statistics well and perfectly aware that there is a real trouble with the evidence base and systematization of knowledge in the field of astrology. As a result, these individuals develop a vigorous activity, the result of which is quite tolerable scientific statistical research, accompanied by the drawing up of graphs and diagrams. The result of this work is the conclusion that there is still some relationship between the position of the planets and some properties of the 'test subjects'. And these studies exceed the statistically significant threshold, not much, not a little, but as much as 3.5%, which immediately dissolve when a real expert in statistics is taken for reviewing the article. And yet this gives some hope to the adepts that in the near future astrology will be recognized as a science, although the destiny of this kind of article is to hang out forever in the yellow press and on astrological sites …
Renegades
It also happens (although very rarely) that astrologers are disappointed in their 'teaching'. By and large, this is the natural final stage in the formation of the worldview of every astrologer, but only if his brain is not yet completely affected. The result of this process is the writing of exposing articles, which is of great concern to the 'true' astrologers, who, without wasting time, immediately compose a horoscope for the experimenters with diagnoses based on them, which 'expose' insidious and narrow-minded apostates.
Criticism of astrology
Astrologers with enviable stubbornness defend their cause, elevating it to the rank of some kind of cult, and react very jealously to any attempt to doubt the validity of astrology. However, they believe that skeptics are simply not able to understand the perfect structure of being due to the limited mind. Often, skeptics criticize the 'astronomical facts' too amateurishly, which only reinforces this opinion of their opponents, and, as a result, unwittingly reinforces them in their faith.
Typical arguments of semi-skeptics
Every day, every twelfth of the world's population has the same fate!
This 'vulgar astrology' has nothing to do with true scientific astrology aimed at drawing up individual horoscopes.
In reality, the constellations of the Zodiac are 13, and not, as is commonly believed, 12!
Astrologers use the concept of a sign, not a constellation. The zodiac belt is divided into 12 sectors, named after the nearby constellations. But the 13th zodiac constellation – the constellation Ophiuchus – did not get a sign.
Astrologers naively believe that the center of the Universe is the Earth, and the Sun and other planets revolve around it.
Since the subject of astrology study is a person who, as you know, lives on planet Earth, then for the simplicity of drawing up horoscopes our planet is placed in the center, although the fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun is a known and irrefutable fact.
Typical arguments of astrologers
Skeptics try to criticize what they don't cut at all!
In order to criticize the accuracy of the result of the work of an astrologer, one does not need to be an expert in astrology. As scientists of various specialties, on the basis of experiments carried out with their own hands, they test each other for lousy theory, while having very vague ideas in one area or another. For all sciences, the scientific method is universal – it is a fact.
The object of criticism of skeptics is only tabloid astrology, which is complete nonsense by definition. But they have no idea about real scientific astrology!
Science has proven that the concepts of 'Scientific astrology' and 'newspaper and magazine' are absolutely identical. This also includes fortune telling on coffee grounds and the like …
The approximate age of astrology as a science is about 5000 years, which confirms its efficiency!
There are thousands of such arguments. For example, the theory that the Earth is flat is 9000 years old. Hence the conclusion: the South Pole does not exist, and Antarctica is in fact an ice wall encircling the world. What, you have a different idea about this?
Astrology works! Even speakname spoke about it!
An appeal to authority is not evidence. Amazingly, out of nowhere appeared Einstein's statements in favor of astrology, which he did not do, and a horoscope on his tombstone, which does not exist in nature!
Astrology tests experimentally
Michelle Gauquelin
There was such a French astrologer who nevertheless came to the realization that much in astrology, as they say, was sucked from the finger. He decided to do a good deed: to systematize all the knowledge accumulated in this direction, while removing everything that would be inoperable when checked. All that remained, according to the scientist, was supposed to form a real scientific astrology. After conducting a series of statistical studies, he discovered the 'Mars Effect', the essence of which is as follows: most of the sports achievements of the subjects are directly related to the position of the planet Mars in the sky at the time of their birth. This theory immediately caused a storm of emotions among scientists, who immediately began to look for shoals in it. At the end of their tossing, they came to the conclusion that the false-positive results of the study were obtained thanks to Gauquelin's manipulation in the formation of databases. But everything is much simpler: when choosing athletes, Gauquelin was guided by subjective criteria of significance, without making allowances for numerous checks. Thus, the criteria of the scientific method were violated. This was the reason for the distortion of the result. The story continued when it was decided to establish this effect in athletes from America. But contrary to the expectations of the overwhelming number of patients with Mars in the 1st and 4th houses, there were not even half of them. A 'scientific' skirmish began, as a result of which Gauquelin, having experienced the most serious stress, became a Hero and went down in history, still being the object of rotten disputes between skeptics and astrologers. In the eyes of some, he remained a hero who suffered a scientific fiasco. The latter consider him a great martyr who was driven to despair by the senseless quibbles of bloodthirsty scientists.
This pattern was established by the French physician Michel Boquelin – a vicious denier of astrology – in the 60-80s. XX century. In his desire to prove the falsity of astrology as a science, for 20 years he has accumulated rich statistical material, studied 20 thousand people, taking into account the exact date and time of birth. As a result, everything turned out exactly the opposite: Boquelin proved that astrology is a true science, which caused a flurry of disapproval from scientists, who immediately declared him a charlatan. After that, the 'apostate' decided to prove his theory once again. For this purpose, he traveled from France to the United States, where he conducted a similar analysis. The result was the same.
Scientific verification
Jayant Narlikar is a Hindu physicist who set out to bring astrolochs to the surface. In this endeavor, he collected data on the time and place of birth of hundreds of excellent students and hundreds of mentally retarded. The task of astrologers was to determine who hu is using natal horoscopes. A whole astrological institute decided to take part in the experiment, in addition to this, 27 more astrologers were harnessed. Each of the individual upstarts received the data of 40 children, the institute – 200 children. The result was disastrous: both the Institute of Astrology and lone astronomers demonstrated results similar to the usual poking a finger into the sky.
Shaun Carlson is an American scientist who published the results of another test of the validity of astrology in the journal Nature. 28 of the 90 best (according to the Institute of Geocosmological Research) astrologers took part in the experiment. For research purposes, they compiled descriptions for 177 people. Each of the subjects had to choose their own description from three. The other two suggested descriptions belonged to other participants in the same experiment. As a result, 'own' description is only in one case out of three. Ch.d.
Jeffrey Dean is a former astrologer who has attempted to prove astrology works. For this purpose, he researched more than 2,000 people born in London. The subject of the study was a pair of so-called 'astrological twins', whose moment of birth did not exceed a time period of 5 minutes, since, in theory, the closer the time of birth of people, the more similarities should be between them. Couples were tested three times: at 11, 16 and 23 years old. The study covered 110 individual traits, such as aggression, math ability, music and sports. But no relationship between the individual characteristics of the 'twins' was ever established.
John McGrew and Richard McFall are Indiana University scientists involved in a study that included six of the Indian Federation's best astrologers 'astrologers' who had extensive astrological consulting practice.
They studied the participants in the experiment, the age qualification of which was to exceed 30 years, since, according to astrologers, it is by this age that a person forms stable ideas about himself. The time of their birth was known with an accuracy of 10 minutes. The experimenters were provided with two photographs of a person in profile and frontal view, the results of two standard psychological studies each person underwent, and answers to a number of auxiliary questions specially compiled for this experiment by astrologers.
In order to avoid any bias, the purpose of the study was hidden from 23 people filling out questionnaires for whom the Federation of Astrologers compiled individual horoscopes. Given all the available information, out of 23 cases, astrologers indicated the correct horoscope from 0 to 3 times, on average – 1 time. Moreover, they were confident that they were right by about 75%. The person taken for comparison from the street guessed right 3 times, i.e. no worse than the best of astrologers.
Thus, if any connection between the position of the planets and the properties of character existed, then it would have already been scientifically proven. And, nevertheless, astrologers are in no hurry to admit their loss.
By the way, one cannot even determine who is the 'best' astrologer, since there are no clear signs of a fit, good astrologer. The paradox is that they are all equally incompetent in determining psychological characteristics and predicting the future. For example, the same forecasters are capable of predicting the weather, although not with absolute accuracy. And this prediction is far from random guessing. This is why meteorology is a science and astrology is not.
Some astrologers still understand that astrology will never reach the level of science. At the same time, they declare: so be it! And who needs this vaunted science of yours, crude and down-to-earth? Where is she to a highly spiritually developed astrology? … But this is already the last stage of the disease, which can only be cured by a guillotine.
The rest of the astrologers simply declare: any experiment is incorrect, although none of them has a desire to conduct a 'correct' experiment. At the same time, without a twinge of conscience, they use untested techniques in their practice.
Excuses-evasions
I checked on myself
The favorite sanctuary and the main argument of the astrologer: 'Everything works – it has been tested on itself! You can see for yourself if you apply it to yourself. What could be more convincing and clearer ?! ' But there is one 'but': checking something on himself, a person shows subjectivity, because, on the one hand, he sees an incomplete picture of this or that phenomenon, on the other hand, we all tend to make mistakes. The real truth can be found only from the objective point of view of a skeptic, when in the process of testing the assumption, all the bullshit is swept aside and only what has actually passed the test remains. In other words, when testing any interesting hypothesis for lice, the skeptic will turn to the collection and analysis of all kinds of information from different sources, and will certainly set up an experiment. The astrologer acts differently: he will immediately begin to purposefully seek out evidence of the efficiency of this hypothesis. If scientific substantiation is not found, then he will find them at any cost, even passing off nonsense for scientific knowledge.
Ancient wisdom
To enter into polemics with an astrologer is a task, in truth, impossible, since the logical sequence of exchange of opinions in the form of an 'argument-counter-argument' is alien to him. The atmosphere prevailing on astrological forums is more like an enchanting celebration of the victory of insanity over common sense. The so-called discussions take the form of monologues, consisting exclusively of streams of universal wisdom. In addition, astrologers practice admiration for authorities, as well as distortion of facts and meanings. They try to apply a similar model of behavior in discussions with skeptics. But due to the flawed model, skeptics simply do not take it seriously, which causes a storm of negativity on the part of astrologers who do not catch up with why the usual pattern of behavior does not work. In fact, everything is simple: in the absence of real facts, the astrologer is unable to move from Baltology to a civilized discussion. He has no choice but to simply accuse his opponents of being limited and proudly walk away into the sunset with a raised chin …
Rectification
In case of exposure, the astrologer resorts to rectification – a technique that determines the exact time of the patient's birth, if such is unknown. This is necessary for drawing up a horoscope. According to astrologers, an error in the time of birth, even for a minute, can lead to a distortion of facts and, as a result, to the compilation of an incorrect horoscope. First of all, in order to determine the exact time of birth, they resort to the data written on the tag from the hospital, but if such an option does not work, the astrologer acts according to a backup plan. In case of a severe discrepancy between the forecast and reality, he suggests rectification: “You know very well how doctors in maternity hospitals treat the accuracy of indicating the time of birth!” After such a statement, the patient himself informs the astrologer about the most significant events in his life, whether it be any serious injuries, illnesses, as well as a wedding, winning the lottery, a good acquaintance, or an important acquisition. Based on the data received, the astrologer 'conducts' rectification, i.e. in the most banal way he adjusts the time of birth in such a way that the events of a person's life fit into the concept of the horoscope. At the same time, the rectified time of birth can differ from the tag by several hours, which absolutely does not bother the astrologer, who confidently declares: “The time of physical birth does not always coincide with the time of inclusion in the rhythms of the Cosmos.”
The stars only suggest, but do not oblige
The astrologer puts forward this argument in case his horoscope is fundamentally different from reality, and it becomes possible to catch a charlatan in misinformation. So, for example, if some Vasya was not taken even as a pilot due to congenital flat feet, although an astrologer was destined for a career as an astronaut, the trump card is used: 'The stars suggest, not oblige. You yourself are to blame for not being in orbit, you had a chance for this, but you missed it. The stars are talking about this, and, as you know, they don't lie! '
Way to fight
In your desire to protect the population from the final infection with delirium, you should not try too zealously to convince someone of something: excessive pressure can cause no less strong opposition. Remember: everyone should make all decisions in their life on the basis of their own conclusions. We can only guide him unobtrusively and carefully, showing him scientifically proven facts. This is the only way to heal. A reasonable person will sooner or later change his mind, common sense must prevail.
