Posted on 10/11/2002 11:44:44 AM PDT by jstone78
How popular is astrology?
Your belief in astrology is part of a popular trend. Are you the kind of person who sneaks a look at the daily horoscope when no one's looking? Who secretly buys an Astrology magazine when you're traveling by yourself? Who pretends you're just kidding when you ask what somebody's sign is? Do you roll your eyes when people start talking about charts and ascendants, retrogrades, and rising suns, but secretly hang on every word?
If you've done any of the above. Don't worry. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
There is this view in our culture that you are either an air head or mentally deficient if you have some belief that there is more to Astrology than a pick-up line in a bar.
But it's a view that is CONTRADICTED by every poll, statistic and fact about Americans and their relationship to Astrology . . .
9 out of 10 Americans know there sign. No big deal. Doesn't mean much.
But did you know . . .
that more people believe in Astrology than in any single religious denomination?
or that Astrology is the number one . . . the most popular area within the Lifestyles Channel of America Online!
or that a recent Gallup poll found that over 50% of Americans believe in Astrology. That's about 125 million people! And that's a cross section of all Americans . . . University presidents, CEO's, lawyers, teachers, mechanics, cooks, waitresses . . . all of us.
(Excerpt) Read more at astrologynow.com ...
Can you cite me any of these cases that were not IDENTICAL Twins, ie. natural clones? I was talking about non-related babies and the inability of Astrology practitioners to derive matching characteristics not otherwise explicable by heredity. Occam's razor would indicate that for Identical Twins, Heredity trumps Astrology.
Yes, this is generally how it is done. Even the "on-air" stuff like Miss Cleo, you can tell the questions asked are not too specific, something that may be partially true for most people. People get tricked because they "want to believe".
That being said, I used to have a good friend who is fairly intelligent who believes in it, and does tarot card readings for friends and family. She claims to be fairly accurate. But then again, I don't think she could tell specifics. I would always hack on her and say things like, "Hey, what did I eat for breakfast last Thursday?".
I've known many low-income, elderly people who gave most their money to tv evangelists. To each his own, I guess....
If used for augury, it is about 5% accurate, same as a stopped clock. If it is used as a system for keeping track of psychological factors like Tarot, I Ching, or Kabala, it is at least useful for keeping the mind active. That becomes important once one gets older than 20 and is started on the downslope to dotage. If astrology or other -mancies aren't attractive, try music, math, or writing. Even knitting ought to help to a degree.
Over 50% of Americans are, indeed, really that stupid -- but I wonder how many could, even after confidently answering such a poll question, explain the difference between astrology and astronomy. Or the difference between anthropology and monopoly, for that matter.
Some psychology professor brought in an "astrologer" to class.
This "astrologer" spent a few minutes alone with each student, asking questions, then wrote his impressions on paper and put in an envelope with the student's name on it and gave it to the student.
After everyone was done, they opened up the envelopes.
Everybody read the "impressions" and something like 90% of the students said that the "impressions" were 90% accurate.
Then the students exchanged papers with their neighbors.
Turns out that the "impressions" were all identical !
He had written the same thing on every paper. !
But everyone (almost) was willing to believe that it was personally about them.
. . .that would be 'their' sign. . .must have been written by a 'scattered' Saggitarrius. . .or a Pisces. . .maybe a beyond-the- present Aquarius. . .or an impatient Aries. . .
How about a challenge, then? Have some skeptic here provide whatever birth information she needs, let her run an analysis, post it, and the subject can comment on its accuracy while the rest of us evaluate how vague or specific it is.
My take on your wife is that she is probably better than her tools. The problem with soft sciences like psychology is that there is very little that is independent of the practitioner. If your wife uses and is successful with Astrology, as a skeptic, I'm of the belief that it is because she is using what feels comfortable and useful to her.
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