Astrology: Anyone want to defend it?

While driving home from work this morning I listened to a Best of Stern segment where Howard was interviewing some astrologer. I remember the guy made two predictions, Gore would win the 2000 election and John Kennedy Jr. would have two children, that were false. He also said Madonna would make movies and be given more credit as an actress (the only acting I've seen was her "spontaneously" kissing Britney). His predictions were so off the mark it wasn't funny.

He finished up by giving chart readings for the personalities of various members of the show that were so vague and/or self-affirming (people like to hear these things said about them) that it was clear the astrologer had no idea who he was talking about.

Is there anyone reading this forum who wants to defend astrology either for divination or personality profiling?

Sure, why not?



Even though it is utterly false, it keeps the undereducated and gullible masses in line and willing to accept that they have no power over their own lives.



It is far less likely to lead to terrorism or other dangerous acts by it's followers than is fundamentalist Islam or Christianity.



So it is a far more of a benign form of mind control than YECism.

I think my sig says it all.

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Creationism has not made a single contribution to agriculture, medicine, conservation, forestry, pathology, or any other applied area of biology. Creationism has yielded no classifications, no biogeographies, no underlying mechanisms, no unifying concepts with which to study organisms or life. - Botanical Society of America's Statement on Evolution

Dawkins has something to say about astrology in "unweaving the rainbow" an a few cool little anecdotes, such as one "astrologer" whose method was to cut out all the predictions from previous years of a newspaper, put them into bags and then just pull them out at random and paraphrase.

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MSci MSc ARCS DIC PhD..... yes, I am bragging.

That reminds me of the classic test for horoscopes. Read one to twelve people who would be of different signs and see how many agree that it was for them and their sign.

And Lewis, I didn't mean defend them in a "lesser evil" sense. I'm wondering if anyone is willing to defend their accuracy or worth in divination or personality profiling.

well I can see some obsessed horoscope readers getting it, but only on the basis that they know their horoscope characteristics so well that they have a good idea about what the astrologer will say about them.

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MSci MSc ARCS DIC PhD..... yes, I am bragging.

. Sure, it's the for-runner of modern-day astronomy, which has been an essential part of brining us great movies about rocks falling out of the sky!



So it's not ALL bad.

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For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.

lunar phases, gravitational strength and magnitude effect species....

lol, I don't think that you will find "during the new moon and first quarter of this lunar phase, Pocilloporid Corals in southern taiwan will be expecting babies" in many astrology columns!

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MSci MSc ARCS DIC PhD..... yes, I am bragging.

Kind of off topic but Madonna actually won an oscar for her part in "Evita", but she was never fully embraced so that guess sort of came true.

As for the actual question of Astrology...nah, I can't defend that. The stars choose my destiny? Well, it's a good excuse next time I turn up late for work I 'spose.

"Sorry boss, but jupiter just keep slowing me down. You know what it's like lugging these planets around".