Debunking astrology

[Pessimistic Hippie]

I agree with some others here; astrology doesn't need to be debunked because astrology in itself has never been...bunked.

It's fun for me but I'm well aware that 2 completely different people can both think they fit the Leo description and so forth. I've actually had people tell me I'm not "a real Scorpio," whatever the hell that means. Those types of people definitely take it too far.

 

[Mole]

Does it really need to be debunked? It's like flat Earth theory

It needs to be debunked because astrology is really important.

Astrology is really important because it is the oldest religion, astrology is the ur-religion on which the subsequent religions ore based. So by debunking astrology, we debunk religion, and by believing in astrology, we validate belief in religion.

The core business of religion is entrancement. All religions entrance their followers, and astrology is no exception. Of course entrancement is is very pleasant, and provides a refuge from a demanding world.

When we are entranced, our critical mind goes to sleep and our imaginative mind wakes up, so debunking astrology with reason and evidence is bound to fail.

The only way to beat a trance is with another trance, a trance cannot be beaten with evidence and reason. This is the mistake atheists make - they try to debunk religion with evidence and reason.

So it is important to learn to create our own trances, to become a trance designer. A good place to start is, "The Way of Trance", by Dennis R Wier, click The Way of Trance PDF - riffporducalleaufrees6.

 

[SirCanSir]

just no. bruh. Stars dont affect your personality unless you obsess with them.

 

[Mole]

just no. bruh. Stars dont affect your personality unless you obsess with them.

This is what they say about advertising - it doesn't affect me unless I want it to, yet every year billions of billion of dollars, across the world, are spent on advertising, because it works.

They say nothing is true until it is denied, and this applies to advertising and astrology.

Astrology is a beautiful parasite - it gets into our minds, and controls what we think and do, and denying it only makes it true.

 

[Mole]

I think there's some truth to it. It seems absurd that the planets could effect us, but only if you look at the world through a simple Newtonian model. In reality, everything moves as one and everything effects everything else.

This is New Age dogma. In fact everything is made of quantum fields that can be measured precisely to ten decimal places. There is no evidence at all that everything effects everything else. If everything did effect everything else, it would be tantamount to saying nothing effects nothing else, it is plainly New Age nonsense with the purpose of entrancing our minds, and putting our critical minds to sleep, and waking up our imaginative minds, so we will believe whatever we are told. And it works.

 

[The Cat]

Like it or not, believe it or not as you will. Your perceptions will not change reality, but simply colour it.

 

[Ghost of the dead horse]

This is really offtopic, but I was thinking of debunking, and it got me excited about how much I'd like some bunking

if you know what I mean

 

[Mole]

Like it or not, believe it or not as you will. Your perceptions will not change reality, but simply colour it.

Like it or not, believe it or not as you will, facts will not change reality, but simply colour it.

What! facts will not change reality, absolutely, facts will not change me!

By contrast, when the facts change I change my mind. Other wise we enter the fact free world of Trump, Meghan, the New Age. or Woke.

And what matters is that we feel good, and that others make me feel good.And hey, when we feel good, we are good, ya know. And don't let anyone tell you different. We have a right to feel good.

And hey, astrology makes me feel good.

 

[The Cat]

 

[Siúil a Rúin]

I agree with some others here; astrology doesn't need to be debunked because astrology in itself has never been...bunked.

It's fun for me but I'm well aware that 2 completely different people can both think they fit the Leo description and so forth. I've actually had people tell me I'm not "a real Scorpio," whatever the hell that means. Those types of people definitely take it too far.

Best turn of phrase I've seen in a while.

I've been surrounded by a lot of people who believe in astrology, and I just go along with the chat, but am not that invested in understanding it. I tend to see it like I see a lot of theories that people come up with because it is filled with complexity and interconnected ideas, so that its internal system has all the dots connected, but it isn't necessarily tethered to reality. People come up with lots of systems that might have started with some connections to reality, but they get carried away with their own inner complexities without consistently doing reality checks, so you end up with fantasy. I tend to see theories, ideologies, religions, and fantasy stories all very similar because they are like an abstraction of reality, but not necessarily tethered to reality. They take on a life of their own. They all reveal information about human psychology and how thoughts are internally organized in the brain. It has more to do with revealing the inner world of human cognition than representing external reality a lot of the time.

 

[Mole]

Predicting the future even with scientific methods is “iffy” at best. But, of course, any info can potentially have an impact on what one does, whether it were an accurate prediction of the future or just a fictional prediction.

There are self-fulfilling prophecies, in which the mere belief that something is going to happen, leads to actions that make something occurring to be more likely and even inevitable.

And our will is determined, anyway, by whatever the factors are, be they predictions included or just all of the other factors that go into determining what we will do.

Certainly this is plausible, but I prefer the hard data. I know how easily I am misled, so to avoid being led up the garden path by charm and status, I prefer to keep my nose in the data

 

[Tonitrum]

I know this is an old thread, but what is there to debunk about Astrology? Everyone already knows that Astrology is pseudoscience.

 

[Mole]

I know this is an old thread, but what is there to debunk about Astrology? Everyone already knows that Astrology is pseudoscience.

Nor everyone knows mbti uses exactly the same means of manipulation as astrology.

But mbti rewards us with a feeling of control, puts our critical mind to sleep, and wakes our imaginative mind. This is irresistible to those in emotional pain, and will believe anything to stop the pain.