Astrology

Most people do not understand the difference between astrology and astronomy, and often talk about them as if they're synonymous with each other. Astrology is a pseudoscience, a group of beliefs that asserts that the relative positions of celestial bodies is useful in understanding, interpreting, and affecting personality, human affairs, and other terrestrial matters. Astronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the earth's atmosphere. It is concerned with the evolution, physics, chemistry, meteorology, and motion of celestial objects, as well as the formation and development of the universe.

One assumption of astrology is that stars and planets influence our lives. Stars are celestial bodies consisting of gas, which create energy by the process of nuclear fission, held together by its own gravity. After the sun, the nearest star is Proxima Centauri which is 40 trillion kilometers away. One would have to travel at the speed of light (300,000 km per second) for approximately 4 years and 75 days to reach it. Planets are celestial bodies that orbit a star, have sufficient mass to create enough gravity to assume a nearly round shape, and have become gravitationally dominant so that they are not under the gravitational pull of another body (except a star; thus, a planet can have moons under its orbit but the planet itself is not another planet's moon). I ask you, could it be true that the positions and motions of the stars and planets reveal information about financial or relationship matters? This is a scientific question and to date, there is no verified scientific basis for these beliefs. In fact, there is strong disconfirmatory evidence. Research conducted has reported no evidence that celestial objects can influence affairs here on Earth.


The doctrine of astrology began to be compiled around 2000 BC and played a significant role in shaping culture for the next 3500 years. Skepticism of astrology was never absent. During the European Renaissance with the emergence of the scientific revolution, astrology and astronomy diverged. Astronomy became a science while astrology was demoted to a superstition or pseudoscience.

Evidence continues to refute the validity of astrology, but most notably for its lack of predictive validity, absence of empirical evidence, and its unscientific methodology. Under controlled studies, astrologers cannot demonstrate consensus. For example, a double-blind study from the University of California found that the astrologers in their study could not solve their clients' personal problems and had no special ability to interpret personality from astrological readings. Another study conducted in 1997 concluded that a group of astrologers failed to predict objective facts about people and failed to agree with another astrologer's interpretations.

Palm reading, magic crystals, auras, tarot cards, psychics - why do people believe in such utter nonsense? If you are a horoscope enthusiast, try a simple experiment. Ask someone to read all the daily horoscopes in a random order to you and try to decide which one is yours. Another easy little test is to take one horoscope, and read it to several different people, claiming that the description is for their sign. You'd be surprised to see how most people readily agree with the description. You may even notice that horoscopes are so blatantly vague and broad that anyone can attach any possible meaning to any statement.

If someone is willing and eager to believe, their tendency to confirm will cause them to remember and focus on those descriptions that seem accurate (the "hits") rather than the inaccurate ones (the "misses"). The irrelevant or wrong descriptions will most likely be ignored but anything that seems partially true will automatically confirm their beliefs. They will tend to over exaggerate all the "hits" and overlook whatever does not fit.