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[MBTI General] is astrology real?

BlackCat

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Did it tell you you were going to eat today, meet somebody you know, make a financial decision and you may or may not have to do something in the future?

It told me about random things... Such as how I act and my personality. It wasn't a full assessment of my personality but all of what it said was true.
 

IEE623

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Science = hypothesis + observations + statistics => making conclusions about the hypothesis based on observations using statistics.

a bunch of hypotheses and statistics => human, all too human
 

mysterio

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Jung’s experiments did suggest a degree of synchronicity at work in astrology, and I recall another study which showed that athletes had a better than chance percentage of a significant positioning of Mars in their natal charts - so I wouldn’t dismiss astrology as pure bunk. On the other hand, it’s far from an exact science and shouldn’t be employed as such. If the mbti and the Enneagram are not exact sciences, then astrology certainly isn’t.
 

Willfrey

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Jung’s experiments did suggest a degree of synchronicity at work in astrology, and I recall another study which showed that athletes had a better than chance percentage of a significant positioning of Mars in their natal charts - so I wouldn’t dismiss astrology as pure bunk. On the other hand, it’s far from an exact science and shouldn’t be employed as such. If the mbti and the Enneagram are not exact sciences, then astrology certainly isn’t.

The experiment you're talking about was done by an astrologer, Gauquelin. The experiment was surrounded with controversy, and later experiments revealed no correlation.
 

desiree

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While avoiding answering the question...

I once had a detailed star chart drawn somewhere online (I forget where). Based upon my date, time, and location of birth, the analysis accurately described several events I have already experienced. Interestingly, the outcome was based on gender. The one that stuck with me was its assumption that my mother left when I was very young, only true based on my star chart and gender.

But if you want to be surprised, you don't have to get a whole chart done. There is a book that will tell you about your astrological profile based on the week you were born, and it is called The Secret Language of Birthdays. Check it out the next time you're in Borders (just don't pay for it). I only partially identified with the description of the average Gemini, but upon reading about my week, I decided astrology was able to produce some information of merit to me after all. The Secret Language of Relationships is even more eerily accurate: its most outlandish statements ended up being literally true in my friendships.

I don't believe astrology can be explained in a way that will satisfy science, so I'm not going to try.
 

simulatedworld

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The information you presented isn't something that one could specify to be as "oh shit, she's right."

The group itself was too small. If you want to look serious, get at least 50 participants, not 7.

Give us "the prophecies" you tried them on. If those prophecies go on something like this "You might experience something interesting today", then fuck it.

The testing done should not be completely straightforward. Give some of the people false, made out out of your ass cheeks prophecies that have a similar style to the ones that were true, give them prophecies that don't correlate with their astrological sign. If astrology was true, those prophecies could not correlate with their lives.


Personally? I think it's a load of bullocks and the only real value of it is akin to that of a placebo.

word, thanks for saving me the time to type this
 

simulatedworld

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I once had a detailed star chart drawn somewhere online (I forget where). Based upon my date, time, and location of birth, the analysis accurately described several events I have already experienced. Interestingly, the outcome was based on gender. The one that stuck with me was its assumption that my mother left when I was very young, only true based on my star chart and gender.

This is called coincidence. By sheer probability, the vast number of different people and situations in the world will necessitate that some people get extremely accurate predictions from astrology. There will be varying degrees of accuracy because the predictions are assigned randomly, so if we plotted the accuracy of the astrological predictions for each person in the world, it would form a bell curve--extremely accurate for a few, moderately accurate for a few more, moderately inaccurate for some, highly inaccurate for a few and completely inaccurate for a few less, and so on. Most people, by the law of averages, will fall somewhere in the middle. The further from the mean that you deviate in one direction (more or less accurate), the fewer people you're left with.

You happened to fall at the high end of the accuracy curve, but this one instance of personal experience doesn't establish any sort of actual accuracy for astrology, and that's why it can't be explained by science. The only way to grant any real validity for the system is if it were tested on a wide range of people and had a high degree of accuracy and specificity for a majority of them--even given its vaguely written predictions, it still doesn't.

In short, you got lucky. Your results lack conclusive meaning until validated by a significant majority of future trials with the same outcome.
 

desiree

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To use another example...

I think you're right about that. Sometimes when people see their results (even very literal, detailed ones) they do not identify with them.

While it isn't science ("pseudoscience" is the term given it), I think it merits additional experimentation. Astrology is a minor hobby of mine and I amuse myself by trying to guess a person's sign within the first few days of meeting them. I think I'm gradually getting more accurate, but I'm not as good as some of the customers I had when I was a bank teller, who consistently told me I was a Gemini after talking to me for under two minutes.

That having been said, I remain frightened by people who define their lives and relationships by the zodiac.
 

simulatedworld

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There are likely some subconscious effects on your behavior from reading about how a Gemini supposedly acts.

Then again, those may just be lucky guesses. I exhibit a number of "Aries" traits (which I am), myself, but I know enough people whose sign descriptions are totally inaccurate that I don't really chalk it up to anything more than chance.

In truth, I would guess that you're not building any accuracy so much as happening upon better luck with your guesses lately. I agree that further experimentation might prove informative. Try polling a few hundred people with the data from several different signs; see which ones they pick for themselves. It would be very interesting, indeed, if you found any correlations.
 

PeaceBaby

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I can't resist bringing this thread back to life ...

Drivers born under the star sign Sagittarius are more likely to have a car accident than anyone else.

Research by The Co-Operative Insurance shows that drivers born between 23 November and 22 December are most at risk of being in an accident.

Scorpions and Librans are second and third most likely, respectively, to have an accident.

Least likely star sign to have a smash are those born under Aries (21 March - 20 April).


Co-operative Insurance - Zodiac driving results

STAR SIGN | Survey Position

SAGITTARIUS | Top

SCORPIO | 2nd

LIBRA | 3rd

LEO | 4th

VIRGO | 5th

AQUARIUS | 6th

CAPRICORN | 7th

PISCES | 8th

CANCER | 9th

TAURUS | 10th

GEMINI | 11th

ARIES | 12th

Link online: Accidents are written in the stars
 

theplacesyoullgo

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The biggest thing I've never really gotten about astrology is how exactly it's supposed to work. What makes someone born May 21 have entirely different traits than someone born May 20? The person born at 11:50 PM on May 20 is a strong-headed "Taurus" and the person born at 1 AM on May 21 is a talkative and bubbly "Gemini." Yes, I know, there are "cusps" and all that, but logically, the entire idea of astrology makes no sense to me.

Funny enough, I actually identify well with my sign, but I feel like if I were to delve into other sign descriptions, I'd find a handful of others fit me just as well.
 

BlackCat

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You have different signs in the different quadrants, that's why you can identify with some of the other ones. A full astrological report on you will be very accurate, but cost money. The one I had done cost my mom some money when I was born, and she wrote down what the different planets and stars in the different quadrants meant when I was born. I got around to reading this a few months ago (18 years old) and it was entirely accurate. I'm not going to dismiss the subject because Seventeen magazine says the Taurus is going to get a text from his/her true love in the next week. :rolli: That's really just not how it works.
 

theplacesyoullgo

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But do the planets (or what have you) move so much at those exact times and dates which represent the cut-offs between signs that it causes significant differences between people born within hours of each other but under different signs? I would imagine that is the theory, but just can't buy it.

I actually had a full report done once and thought it was pretty inaccurate - there were things here and there with which I identified, but nothing that really blew me away as being astoundingly accurate.
 

BlackCat

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It was the same way with my report. Didn't really blow me away. But yes it goes that you are determined by your exact time born. It's hard to buy.
 

Prototype

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Why?
Although I can identify with my sign,... I wonder if I was to be brought up thinking I was a different sign... Would I likely relate to that one because of the power of suggestion?

If so, astrology is hogwash, and so is MBTI!
 

tinkerbell

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I can't resist bringing this thread back to life ...

Co-operative Insurance - Zodiac driving results

STAR SIGN | Survey Position

SAGITTARIUS | Top

SCORPIO | 2nd

LIBRA | 3rd

LEO | 4th

VIRGO | 5th

AQUARIUS | 6th

CAPRICORN | 7th

PISCES | 8th

CANCER | 9th

TAURUS | 10th

GEMINI | 11th

ARIES | 12th

Link online: Accidents are written in the stars

I've seen insurance surveys saying very different sun order, but it can be used in this way

L
 
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