Proof that astrology is bullshit
Tuesday, 24 March 2009As promised in my previous post, I’m going to prove that astrology is complete bullshit.
To aid in this endeavor, I included a Western-astrology-based personality test. It should be “accurate” as the test is copied off a respectable internet horoscope site.
All you have to do is enter your birth date and make an honest appraisal whether the result accurately describes your personality or if it is simply a pile of steaming cow dung.
I challenge you.
Horoscope Astrology Personality Test
Click ‘Read the rest of this entry’ when you’re done.
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So inaccurate, yes?
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“Ah, Roger - you are not just a dickhead but clearly a moron as well. The test read me like a book! It is accurate!”
Mmhmm.
Unfortunately I tricked you.
I did not copy the test from anywhere - I scripted it with html and javascript.
Try a little experiment with me - pretend for a minute that you had another zodiac sign and enter it into the test. Go on, I’ll wait.
ZZZzzzz…
It’s not a glitch - the test is purposely scripted to generate the same answer regardless of which zodiac sign you are. This answer itself is based on text from actual horoscopes.
The point of this little experiment is to show you that the so-called “accurate” horoscopes are only accurate thanks to a psychological phenomenon called the Forer effect.
Also known as the P.T. Barnum (of “there’s a sucker born every minute” fame) effect, the Forer effect describes how people see statements made about them as ‘highly accurate’ and ’specific to themselves’ even though such statements are vague and could have been applied to anyone.
Think of every horoscope you’ve ever read. They always tell you that you’re ‘intelligent, warm hearted, socially consious’ or something like that. Duh, obviously! Who’s going to think of himself as ‘an asinine heartless dick whose social skills are as charming as fresh diarrhea’.
Barnum: “Actually, I didn’t make that ’sucker’ quote.”
As I’ve demonstrated, believers in astrology tend to be victims of this effect. Meanwhile, so-called psychics and astrology mediums rake in millions every year from the gullible. All they need is a solid foundation in making vague descriptions of people.
In essence, astrology is complete bullshit.
Well duh. Stuff in space cannot sculpt your personality anymore than a kick to the groin can.
Then again a kick to the gonads has significantly more effect.
If you still don’t believe my reasoning, why not read about an actual scientific study that has discounted astrology as the load of rubbish that it is:
Astrologers fail to predict proof they are wrong - UK Telegraph
[...] The next post is up! Proof that astrology is bullshit. Spread the [...]
Okee-Dokee, Skeptics…Read all this and understand my story. It doesn’t hurt to have another’s point of view on this subject, right?
I don’t consider Astrology a Science.
But Astrology has provided me some shocking accuracy by defining some of my aspects. I’ve found this out by myself so far, and maybe I’ll go even further with it.
These aspects actually had a hand in my life–My past. It isn’t a generalization because how did I get these specific aspects just by entering my birth date, birth place, and birth time.
Here are some of my aspects that have stated true, regardless of how it is written. I received these aspects just by entering the required information.
Sun Square Moon:
“Conflict between ego and your emotions may be expressed through your personality, health or conflicts between you and your parents or spouse. There may be an above average generation gap with both the preceding and following generations. Trouble with your partner may lead to financial hardship or divorce. There may be contention between the domestic and professional aspects of your life. Early family conditions may delay the ability to understand and get along with the opposite sex. You tend to blame your parents, but the trouble lies in sub-conscious patterns. You’re your own worst enemy. Your health suffers if you don’t resolve your conflicts. Reconcile your male and female sides.”
Source: http://www.geocities.com/rbltre/astro/su…
Sun Square Saturn:
“Any success you achieve is due to hard work and extreme self-discipline, but your ambitions often fall prey to incompetence and bad luck. Unless you can overcome an ego-centered selfishness and stinginess, you’re going to be beset by disappointment and frustration, giving you a negative attitude of the world. It seems you have more than your share of responsibilities but this is due to very difficult lessons you must learn regarding things associated with the houses occupied by the Sun and Saturn, and you learn everything the hard way. Your self-expression is limited by feelings of self-consciousness and inadequacy. You tend not to be close to your father and/or may lose him at an early age. You may marry a widow(er) or someone of a vastly different age. Your health may suffer from lack of vitality and you’ll have dental and arthritic problems. Your children’s health may suffer, especially the eldest’s.”
Source: http://www.geocities.com/rbltre/astro/su…
I don’t really feel that vulnerable at the moment to actually explain which part of each defined aspect specifically pertains to me. It’s a personal problem that is still far from being unsolved. It’s also very unhealthy, and it has happened recently. The night of Thursday. You probably could determine an educated guess of what happened that night. I don’t find Skeptics to be idiots in general. I could understand why you guys are skeptical for several reasons, and It’s also smart to be so. But it has worked for me. I also don’t blame these aspects for soiling my life. It just happened, and it’s over. Regardless, that I become post-traumatic more than occasionally. And anyways I could leave my situation by free will. However, it isn’t considered the wisest of choices.
If Astrology hasn’t worked for you or your loved ones…then I offer my condolences that it hasn’t…But for sure it has worked for me. But it doesn’t solve my problems–That’s a fact. Astrology doesn’t find miraculous answers that could prevent issues that affect negatively in our planet.
Yeah, that’s my story. Or are you going to disagree with me that what has happened didn’t happen…? Anyways, don’t rely on it that heavily. I’m okee-dokee, overall. C;
I went into this firmly believing this was from a true site. I took it, and my result: completely inaccurate; at least on a specific level. ALL of the things put in there are present in most people, and it was blindingly obvious once I read it that you had simply made this yourself. Astrology, at least when coming down to describe human personalities, iS a fuck of a lot more specific than that. I’ll be the first to admit, most astrology (when people try to predict your future, tell you things that happened in your past based on your sign to tell you more about the future, whatever) is a big fat steaming pile of shit. I honestly don’t think i’ve gotten one correct horoscope in my life… HOWEVER; I HAVE thoroughly read in detail about what my sign, and other signs are supposed to be like, and yes, they differentiate highly. And most of all, what was said about my personality, was, literally, about 80% true. Yes, they did screw up on some major things, and I will call that stuff out as bs immediately, but what they did get right was very surprising and lot more specific and non-contradictory than what you put in your little test. So your sign description isn’t right, BFD, a lot of peoples aren’t… but even more people’s are. About 90% of the people I know very well, I have found their sign descriptions are pretty accurate. Not perfect, but usually 65-85% accurate.
So yes, horoscopes are bullshit, but the descriptions, can be extremely accurate without being vague. I don’t live my life on astrology, but I do look into it for fun and may take it into account on less serious matters.
Wow, very interesting counter arguments from you guys.
Corwen> Note that the readings you posted contain a lot of the word ‘may’. You may or may not notice it, but using the word ‘may’ allows the reading to be off on a lot of points and somehow still retain a semblance of accuracy.
Imagine if the reading used ‘will definitely’ instead of ‘may’. As in, “you will definitely marry a widower 40 years older than you.”
It’ll be way too easy for the Horoscope to get it wrong.
Using ‘may’, it’s easier to disregard the irrelevant points and focus on the accurate points alone. This is called Confirmation Bias.
Also, the readings feature some pretty broad-based descriptions. I’m pretty sure most people can lose sleep and health over conflicts, blame their parents on some level, experience success based on hard work and self discipline, blame bad luck and incompetence (of others if not the self) for failure, have trouble with the spouse/family/children, feel inadequate or self conscious, and the list goes on.
The only way the Horoscope can be inaccurate is if you’re some kind of utopian being who can resolve all their life’s problems at the end of a 30 minute TV show.
I’m sure just about anyone who took your readings as their own can find some way to associate themselves with it, if they want to.
And therein lies the problem with Astrology.
Nonetheless, I hope you have managed to resolve your problems. If your belief in astrology played a part in helping you get over your conflicts, by all means disregard anything I have to say against it.
AD> I’d take your word on horoscopes being more accurate and less vague. However you base your figures and evidence on personal anecdotes. However I won’t nitpick on details like experimental process and data veracity.
Nonetheless, try this little experiment with the 90% of people you know well:
Ask if the opposite characteristic described by their sign description is true for them at times. I’m willing to bet that everyone has time where they feel introverted as well as a time when they were outgoing and friendly. Intellectual as well as completely bimbotic. Confident as well as insecure.
Also, see if there are points in your description that are completely unambiguous and cannot possibly apply to many people. Even if you think they may not apply to many people, go out and ask around. You’d be surprised how many people actually think like you do.
If you can find an unambiguous point that’s very specific to yourself, go out and find someone with the same birthdate/time/place as you and see if that characteristic fits them as well. I doubt you’d be able to.
lol i read the thing for my personality but it was innacurate the whole time. It’s just general stuff that can apply to anyone.
i unno, im a little obsessed with astrology personality and im trying to stop believing it but i cant because of this site…
http://www.mysticalblaze.com
look for astrology and read your personality profile or someone elses. i dunno, i can’t relate to any of them except my own…
don’t read it if you believe things to easily
Wow… I came here looking for some genuine discussion about astrology - and then it turns out the person who was going to “prove” (ahem) it’s BS doesn’t even know the first thing about it? Enter your day of birth? WTH…?
Regardless of the validity of astrology, no self-respecting astrologer - not even a small fish - would dare to say anything without knowing the client’s exact time of birth AND the coordinates, obviously.
Do you know ANYTHING at all about this subject?
Do you have any idea of just how ridiculous this makes you sound…?
Guess not.
LOLCHAIR IS AMUSED BY THEIR ASTROLOGICAL FAGGOTRY xD
Forgot to say,that these girlies talking about you knowing nothing about an astrolloger’s aproach to dates and times,ARE SO FUCKIN LAUGHABLE PIECE OF SHIT! AHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAH This post made my day dude xD there are people out there,that believe in zodiac and astrological predictions,and this fact MAKES LOLCHAIR AND ENCYCLOPEDIADRAMATICA LAUGH AAAALL OVER! xD
Pretty Polly, all that stuff about your moon sign sun sig, venus sign is hocus pocus, designed to appear impressive to weak minded/ and or easily impressed people, who are willing to part with their cash easily. I understand that people want to believe in this crap, but there’s no truth in it. It makes people who believe in it look like idiots.
Polly - OK, so I’m assuming that somehow your geographical location on Earth - a little measurement that varies in the mere 1000’s of kilometers - can be significantly influenced by the cosmos, where the shortest distance between astrological bodies are measured in the millions of kilometers.
How about people born in the same hospital as you, on the same day, at the same time? It does happen. Do they end up becoming exactly like you? Have exactly the same fortunes as you?
Diesel - LOL. Yes I love reading Encyclopedia Dramatica too.While sitting on my lolchair.
Alice - Yes exactly! I think I should run a business making ‘astrological’ reads. Just cold read my gullible clients, observing their body language, language patterns and speech habits. Then based on what I have gathered from them, make up some garbage that fits my impression of their psychological profile. Oh wow I have the ability of a God suddenly.
So easily done, but sadly I’m not a charlatan
Anyone who believes in astrology is fucked in the head. Do you believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, or God? It’s all fucking make-believe. Period. Fuck You.
Anyone who believes in astrology is a fucking moron. Do you also believe in the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, Santa Cla\us, and God? Then you deserve your little world of delusion.
I always enjoyed taking personality tests and reading about what an amazing person I am on those astrology sites. It’s fun. It makes you feel good about yourself. And I can even see the value in having vague observations about life, relationships, family, work, etc. give you a different perspective about yourself and your role in other people’s lives. We tend to see things our own way, and that makes it hard to approach our problems with another frame of reference - something we should always strive to do. So I suppose astrology can be useful to people who need a little nudge in the right direction in order to help themselves through something. There’s value in that, but it doesn’t make astrology true. There are lots of false things that can be useful; especially to a believer.
It’s a shame that belief is considered a virtue while skepticism is frowned upon. My mom (who is pretty religious) often sighs and tells me, “you’re such a cynic.” And I say, “No, Mom. I’m a skeptic. Not a cynic.” Sadly, she doesn’t see the difference. I think it’s ironic. She has a very negative perception of my skeptical nature - and she’s calling *me* a cynic. I guess she thinks it’s cynical to not believe in magic. But I don’t understand why that’s a bad thing. Maybe it’s not truth people are after, but comfort. Well, I find comfort in knowing the truth. While astrology and metaphysics, and myth and magic can be fun, I won’t look to those things for inspiration. What’s really out there is much more amazing and compelling than any religion or pseudoscience. If I am cynical about anything it’s why so few of us see that.
Nice arguments! I had a boyfriend who was very into astrology and he kept talking about how it was extremely accurate about most of the things.
Yet I have a single argument, for which astrology really fails.
Imagine, a real life situation - twins. Both born with C-section, thus at almost identical time, at identical place obviously.
Well, I know such guys. They are no more similar to each other than I am to any of them. Astrology simply cannot be precise about two people just based on time and place of birth
It’s very accurate!
Astrologers are just going by the characteristics of the equinox and the zodiac in the celestial realm and the constellations… The Religion Christianity for example is all astromythilogical and every year is represented by each sign of the zodiac and equinox activities such as summer soltstice and easter and even december 24th’s sun’s shifting period as it moves one degree north is ALL ASTROLOGICAL. Astrology doesn’t precisely apply to all but it does to many. Astrology simply interprets the possible traits of people due to thier zodiac signs but how many people don’t you find very similar to another? They may ppl who look, talk and act and live like you. how many ppl have you came across to that you have said O wow! You’re just like me or have many things in common with? So yes it is very possible there being a universe full of two ppl that are alike regardless of their birthdate and such. Everyone has their choice on what they believe in bullshit or fact. Ps. that anonymous that stated ” It’s very accurate! ” That was ME!
peace n love to all!
SO yes it is very real… you don’t have to believe in horoscope written by editors or these cons who promise you they can transform your life with info that opens up a horiszon to your blocked potentiel, but so far my horoscope tend to apply very much to me and it’s not something so general either it’s just so coincendential that the days of the horoscope I read, are way too on precise with a matter going on in my life. Again, everyone’s experience and opinion is diffrent. Take care everyone> Blessing to all!
( Correction) SO yes it is very real… you don’t have to believe in horoscopes written by editors or these cons who promise you they can transform your life with info that opens up a horizon to your blocked potential, but so far my horoscope tend to apply very much to me and it’s not something so general either it’s just so coincendential that the days of the horoscope I read, are way too on precise with a matter going on in my life. (There is no such thing as a coincidence) Again, everyone’s experience and opinion is diffrent. Take care everyone> Blessing to
Oh yea and John I certainly do not believe in any of the above which you have mentioned hehe and I just find astrology intriguing and I make a lot of sense of it since it does have many accuracy pointse but I don’t take it for face value either but that’s your opinion and I respect that.
hahahahaa someone obviously needs either anger management or a speech course read a book honey it will improve that unsensical attitude of yours. Pffff lol someone seems to have some emotional baggage…meditate it help quiet your mind and lower your stress hormones.
* nonsensical hahaha my bad LMAO!
astrology so homo, your mother says so!
Fake bull pies it is!
Btw, mady shut your trap,
evil demonic sorcery
star woman, with
your idiot opinions!
I am happy to see that you all sit in lolchairs.
I had an argument with my zodiac believing sister and after all she left rushing to her room after some off my accurate arguments about the non existing validity of astrology.
It’s funny.
Astrological beliefs are a system byproduct,but it’s mostly pushed by the prvious generation.
More specific,inside the family.
Why I say that? My dad and stepmother both believe in the zodiac.And I really mean they believe.For instance they place personality traits and problems to the zodiac.That’s so fuc*ing nuts.
My mother also believed in the zodiac,which makes a killer combination for me believing in it too.
It took me a while to see the paranoia of this system after being bombarded with stupid beliefs for years.
Now,that I have the opportunity to see out of the belief,I see that it is prettty mesmerizing and narcotic.
It is a person-centered belief system that gives you the felicity to be a really individual person! It really makes you believe you are the most unique person in the galaxy.
And that’s the narcotic part of it.Then,it gives you the opportunity to say that your birthdate is guilty for your personality’s bad parts.Sure there are many “advantages” in believing in the zodiac.
But for THOSE WHO BELIEVE just READ THE FOLLOWING.
Astrology was invented 5000 years ago by people who believed in magic,which particularly is also a fraud.
Alchemists determined much of Astrology’s traits.
But WAKE UP,those guys thought they could turn lead to gold just by boiling a mixture a specified our that Mercury was in the Sun LOL,which of course is abstract according to modern science as all can see.
So stop believing in things that alchemists set up out of ignorance.
Lol, dude… dunno which zodiac sign you are but you seam like a cool guy with intellect and sense of humor ;D
I have been depressed for a while, my friend told it was because it belonged to my zodiac sign
The guy gave me a book.
Interesting thing..
After reading the description of all zodiac sign i realized you could make up a little excuse for anybodies depression, melancholy or ups and downs…..
Aries impulsive, Taurus stubborn and jealous, Gemini guilty complex, Cancer overemotional, Leo hurted ego, Virgo stressed, Libra out of balance, Scorpio too intense feelings and jealousy, Sag lack in tact, Cap melancholic and stressed Aquarius so intelligent nobody understands the poor guy Pisces overemotional….
Not very hard, is it?
And to be honest…
I have got it all.
But that makes me a complex human, right ?
And as impulsive as an Aries, as stubborn as a Taurus, as chatty and communicative as a Gemini, as sensitive as a Cancer, is egoistic as a Leo, as analytical and rational as a Virgo, as objective as a Libra, as intense and determined as a Scorpio, as philosophic as a Sag, as wise and skeptical as a Cap, yet so progressive as an Aquarius and touchy and intuitive as a Pisces I can say..
A
S
T
R
O
L
O
G
Y
=
B
U
L
L
S
H
!
T
m’kay ;D
Now..
Which zodiac sign do you think I might be ?
sorry for the bad english btw.
i am from holland, that would be my excuse ;P
That was gold.
So, true.
People are idiots:)
Also, they’re all so fucking general that it literally applies to everyone.
jeffff u sound like a gemini!
actually back when i was at university my philosophy teacher argued that anything which is ‘unfalsifiable’ is unworthy of note. saying all theories like the famous one of of relativity etc are falsifiable- clearly open to refutation and therefore sound. horoscopes say things like “today MAY be your lucky day” therefore being impossible to falsify because if your day is bad it only said MAY be and if it is good says i told you so! It is an unfalsifiable truth.
…but regardless of my mind telling me it is bullshit i remain superstitious HA
The only horoscopes I read are in The Onion
Cancer June 22 - July 22
Your life will be imbued with a deep sadness this week, but you’ll be able to ignore it as usual.
If your superstitous then you belive in astrology, this crap is straight up bulllshit and so vague it could apply to a insect.