Up until recently I didn’t think anyone actually believes in astrology. I thought it was something people read for fun, and didn’t really pay much attention to, kind of like fortune cookies. Apparently I was naive. They even have their own “scientific” journal. I am ashamed to admit that I had no idea so many people took this nonsense so seriously (I prefer to think that rather than being naive, I am simply too much of an optimist, but maybe that’s just a nicer way of phrasing the same thing).
How it supposedly works is a bit of a mystery to me. Some say it works by magical vibrations, despite the fact that space is a vacuum and therefore incapable of transmitting vibrations. Others claim it works through gravity, either direct gravitational pull on us, despite the fact that the gravitational pull from the midwife or doctor delivering the baby is the same order of magnitude as that of the moon or the stars (gravitational forces drop off like 
), or gravitation affects the magnetic properties of the sun, which affects us, despite the fact that the magnetic fields from the electronics in the room are orders of magnitude larger (magnetic fields drop off faster than 
, though the exact expression depends on the structure of the magnet).
What brought about this sudden realization, you might ask? I was at work Saturday (I work at a bookstore) removing books for return from the “Astrology/New Age” section, when I casually commented to one of my coworkers that the books belong in the “Fantasy” section. Imaging my chagrin when she got upset with me. She then proceeded to try to “convert” me to astrology. The single bit of evidence she presented: “Remember when Mars was really close to Earth last year, and there was that series of murders? Well, Mars makes people more violent.” That’s it, that was the entirety of her argument. A single bit of anecdotal evidence (which I’m taking her word that it is actually true, I don’t, in fact, remember any such string of murders off hand). No statistics. Not even a proposed mechanism of action. At least some people try to use statistics. I attempted an explanation of why astrology doesn’t work, and the flaws in her short argument but was met with a wall of incomprehension. I walked away, shaking my head.
At least one of us learned something today.
You are looking at this all the wrong way. That people believe in astrology isn’t a good thing, HOWEVER, it could be said that its still a better position than religion. At least they TRY to use natural explanations. Of course its disproven and very unlikely natural explanations, but a small step forward none the less.
There are a surprising number of people who still believe in all this mythological stuff. I still find it hard to accept the number of people who beleive in the vague “prophecies” dictated by astrology and the like. What happened to survival of the fittest (or least led on by far fetched crap)?
Steven,
When did I say it was a good thing that people believe in astrology? Further, I’m not even certain that it’s better than religion. At least religion (usually) doesn’t try to make a pretence of being based in “science”. By promoting pseudoscience they are eroding scientific literacy and opening the door for other pseudoscientific theories (homeopathy, naturopathy, intelligent design, etc.). I’m not convinced that pseudosciences are the lesser of the two evils.