I was an astrologer – here's how it really works, and why I had to stop

[GenesisNemesis]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...ket-newtab

Interesting read, particularly this bit at the end:

I can still make the odd forecast, though. Here’s one: the venture capital pouring into astrology apps will create a fortune telling system that works, because humans are predictable. As people follow the advice, the apps’ predictive powers will increase, creating an ever-tighter electronic leash. But they’ll be hugely popular – because if you sprinkle magic on top, you can sell people anything.

Sounds quite terrifying...

[no one]

Suckers, they're born in 60 second intervals.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

Madame Vessant was 100% legit. Just ask Jubal.

[Dancefortwo]

The closest star in the Pisces constallation is 294 light years away from Earth.  The furthest star in the Pisces constallation is 492 light years away from Earth.  They have zero effect on anyone on this planet.  None.   I had a good time posting this information to someone on a forum somewhere who believed in astrology.  I love to pop people's delusional balloons.  It's lots o' fun.  

[GenesisNemesis]

The closest star in the Pisces constallation is 294 light years away from Earth.  The furthest star in the Pisces constallation is 492 light years away from Earth.  They have zero effect on anyone on this planet.  None.   I had a good time posting this information to someone on a forum somewhere who believed in astrology.  I love to pop people's delusional balloons.  It's lots o' fun.  

My mother still believes "Mercury in retrograde" disrupts communication, so whenever she has computer problems or whatever during that, she blames it on that.

Despite the fact that computer problems will still happen when Mercury is not "in retrograde"... She isn't even able to explain how, exactly, Mercury disrupts communication, so I have no fucking clue how that has any explanatory power whatsoever. Thankfully she doesn't use astrology to determine the course of her life, as far as I know. But anyway, thanks life, I needed that extra dose of absurdity.

[Dancefortwo]

The closest star in the Pisces constallation is 294 light years away from Earth.  The furthest star in the Pisces constallation is 492 light years away from Earth.  They have zero effect on anyone on this planet.  None.   I had a good time posting this information to someone on a forum somewhere who believed in astrology.  I love to pop people's delusional balloons.  It's lots o' fun.  

My mother still believes "Mercury in retrograde" disrupts communication, so whenever she has computer problems or whatever during that, she blames it on that.

Despite the fact that computer problems will still happen when Mercury is not "in retrograde"... She isn't even able to explain how, exactly, Mercury disrupts communication, so I have no fucking clue how that has any explanatory power whatsoever. Thankfully she doesn't use astrology to determine the course of her life, as far as I know. But anyway, thanks life, I needed that extra dose of absurdity.

Sorry, I know it's your mother but she may as well believe in Tinker Bell and Magical Fairy Dust.  

[skyking]

The only useful info is about solar flares. They DO disrupt communications

[SYZ]

I read an apocryphal story way back about an astrologer who wrote a daily
column in one of his city's major newspapers.

He came into the news office one morning with that day's predictions written
out on 12 separate cards. As he sat down at his desk, he dropped them on
the floor in disarray.  One of his co-workers asked him what he was gonna do
now to sort them out, and the astrologer said—picking them up—"oh, it doesn't
matter, I don't have to".     

[grympy]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...ket-newtab

Interesting read, particularly this bit at the end:

I can still make the odd forecast, though. Here’s one: the venture capital pouring into astrology apps will create a fortune telling system that works, because humans are predictable. As people follow the advice, the apps’ predictive powers will increase, creating an ever-tighter electronic leash. But they’ll be hugely popular – because if you sprinkle magic on top, you can sell people anything.

Sounds quite terrifying...

I was an amateur astrologer in the early 70's, for about 3 years.  This was during the years I was still searching for the divine . I had a good teacher , and read everything I could get my hands on. 

I also went to meetings of an astrologer's association.  They had a strict code of ethics and meetings were spent interpreting anonymous charts, often of  famous  people. I found it fascinating.  It needs to be understood that in such a setting, everyone is a believer, so the proceedings could not be said to  be objective.

All of the astrologers I met (about 20)  were true believers. All charged a token amount, but all had day jobs except one, a lovely lady who was disabled. .  All were contemptuous  of newspaper astrologers as blatant charlatans.  

I never sought or accepted money.  Started casting natal charts and interpreted my findings.  I kept a copy of every chart ,and more importantly provided written interpretations, of which I also kept a copy.  In followed up after a year. Interestingly, nobody said I was wildly wrong in my readings . THAT is because people are gullible, and  really want to believe.  

I found very quickly that people  do NOT want  to know their future. What they want is "tell me about all the good things which are going to happen to me" . That's what  most astrologers do .I broke that rule only once. A Skeptic (who still gave me his birth detail) I told him he was going to have a nasty car accident .He did too, within a few months. The bloke moonlighted as a taxi driver------.

Over they ears, I had my own chart done four times; once by teacher, once  myself  and twice  by professional  astrologers. The four charts were identical, as they should have been .The four readings were different in terms of emphasis. 

So, how  did I become disenchanted?  In a phrase ; lack of specifics. All astrologers use a jargon, and speak only in generalities.  There is a technique called a progression. There the  astrologer does reading for a specific year. Yet they NEVER say; "On date x , y and z will happen to you" 

I have read serious  studies about astrology. The MOST positive studied several thousand birth dates, correlating with occupations according to astrology.   They found a correlation of 'slightly better than chance'. I thought at the time ,probably within a standard deviation, and useless as evidence  of efficacy.

I also read  tarots. The less said about that the better. 

It was at this time I lost interest in astrology and in all things occult.

Why are  seemingly intelligent  people conned by astrology? They want to believe and most are theists, so already quite gullible.  

Because  astrology is a pseudo science, millennia old.  Babylonian priests and scholars who studied the heavens were all astrologers. There was no such thing as astronomy before the enlightenment. Astrology is still a VERY big deal in India. (ignorance+ poverty= superstition) 

To cast a natal chart, the astrologer looks first at the date, place and time of birth, adjusting to Greenwich mean time .In Adelaide for example, it's plus 9.30 hours.  The astrologer then consults an ephemeride, which is a chart of the actual   positions of every planet, the moon's nodes for a given day.. It's all quite impressive. Until  one realises astrology is  geocentric.-------  

Short answer ; it's woo and astrologers are deluded at best, charlatans at worst

[brewerb]

I predict very few people here will find the practice of astrology valid.

You all owe me money!

[grympy]

The closest star in the Pisces constallation is 294 light years away from Earth.  The furthest star in the Pisces constallation is 492 light years away from Earth.  They have zero effect on anyone on this planet.  None.   I had a good time posting this information to someone on a forum somewhere who believed in astrology.  I love to pop people's delusional balloons.  It's lots o' fun.  

My mother still believes "Mercury in retrograde" disrupts communication, so whenever she has computer problems or whatever during that, she blames it on that.

Despite the fact that computer problems will still happen when Mercury is not "in retrograde"... She isn't even able to explain how, exactly, Mercury disrupts communication, so I have no fucking clue how that has any explanatory power whatsoever. Thankfully she doesn't use astrology to determine the course of her life, as far as I know. But anyway, thanks life, I needed that extra dose of absurdity.

"In retrograde" is when  a planet seems to be going backwards. 

In astrology,  a planet in retrograde is seen  as a negative.  Mercury is associated with communication,  travel and technology .

As to 'how". I was not taught that the planets (even the moon) directly effect human lives. It was more like being 'indicators, or a road map. (In astrology, both the sun and the moon are counted as planets) To say that planet ' X causes Y' is only a convenient shorthand.

"Three or four times a year, planet Mercury is said to go retrograde — that is to say it moves in an opposite direction to planet Earth. Planets move from east to west around the sun, and when Mercury turns to move from west to east instead, that's when Mercury is in retrograde. Many refer to this time of year as simply Mercury retrograde.

But this backwards movement is an illusion, similar to the one you experience when you're in a car on the highway moving faster than a train alongside you. The train appears to be moving backward, but it's just moving more slowly than you are. The same thing happens when our planet passes Mercury in our orbit around the sun. Mercury is just moving slower than Earth, causing the illusion that it's moving in retrograde. "

https://www.mnn.com/lifestyle/arts-cultu...grade-mean


(((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((0)))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))


OT ; Christians in believe that three wise men ('magi') followed a star to the birth of Jesus. . At that time anyone who studied the stars did so for divination. The magi were fortune tellers, a practice strictly forbidden in both Judaism and Christianity. The term "Magi" is the origin of the word "magician" . The mental sleight of hand possible when people are in the grip of severe cognitive dissonance is truly amazing. I won't even start on the of the origin of thee account of the three wise men. Perhaps Free has some idea.

[Inkubus]

I read an apocryphal story way back about an astrologer who wrote a daily
column in one of his city's major newspapers.

He came into the news office one morning with that day's predictions written
out on 12 separate cards. As he sat down at his desk, he dropped them on
the floor in disarray.  One of his co-workers asked him what he was gonna do
now to sort them out, and the astrologer said—picking them up—"oh, it doesn't
matter, I don't have to".     

From Dawkins, Unweaving The Rainbow.

On an apocryphal occasion a few years ago, a newspaper hack who had drawn the short straw and been told to make up the day's astrological advice relieved his boredom by writing under one star sign the following portentous lines: 'All the sorrows of yesteryear are as nothing compared to what will befall you today.' He was fired after the switchboard was jammed with panic-stricken readers, pathetic testimony to the simple trust people can place in astrology.

[grympy]

I read an apocryphal story way back about an astrologer who wrote a daily
column in one of his city's major newspapers.

He came into the news office one morning with that day's predictions written
out on 12 separate cards. As he sat down at his desk, he dropped them on
the floor in disarray.  One of his co-workers asked him what he was gonna do
now to sort them out, and the astrologer said—picking them up—"oh, it doesn't
matter, I don't have to".     

From Dawkins, Unweaving The Rainbow.

On an apocryphal occasion a few years ago, a newspaper hack who had drawn the short straw and been told to make up the day's astrological advice relieved his boredom by writing under one star sign the following portentous lines: 'All the sorrows of yesteryear are as nothing compared to what will befall you today.' He was fired after the switchboard was jammed with panic-stricken readers, pathetic testimony to the simple trust people can place in astrology.

 I read of a psych experiment: A class of college students were  each given a page of character traits, based  on their sun sign.  They were then asked to write out their impressions of how accurate the traits were.  The consensus was ''fairly to very accurate" .It was at that point the lecturer revealed that each student had ben given the same information with only the headings changed.  That says it all really.

[Dancefortwo]

I read an apocryphal story way back about an astrologer who wrote a daily
column in one of his city's major newspapers.

He came into the news office one morning with that day's predictions written
out on 12 separate cards. As he sat down at his desk, he dropped them on
the floor in disarray.  One of his co-workers asked him what he was gonna do
now to sort them out, and the astrologer said—picking them up—"oh, it doesn't
matter, I don't have to".     

From Dawkins, Unweaving The Rainbow.

On an apocryphal occasion a few years ago, a newspaper hack who had drawn the short straw and been told to make up the day's astrological advice relieved his boredom by writing under one star sign the following portentous lines: 'All the sorrows of yesteryear are as nothing compared to what will befall you today.' He was fired after the switchboard was jammed with panic-stricken readers, pathetic testimony to the simple trust people can place in astrology.

 I read of a psych experiment: A class of college students were  each given a page of character traits, based  on their sun sign.  They were then asked to write out their impressions of how accurate the traits were.  The consensus was ''fairly to very accurate" .It was at that point the lecturer revealed that each student had ben given the same information with only the headings changed.  That says it all really.

That is the great James Randi, the debunker of magic and other nonsense.  And here's his video of the very scene you describe.  

[Free]

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle...ket-newtab

Interesting read, particularly this bit at the end:

I can still make the odd forecast, though. Here’s one: the venture capital pouring into astrology apps will create a fortune telling system that works, because humans are predictable. As people follow the advice, the apps’ predictive powers will increase, creating an ever-tighter electronic leash. But they’ll be hugely popular – because if you sprinkle magic on top, you can sell people anything.

Sounds quite terrifying...

It's all about people's propensity to "believe" as opposed to gathering facts that provide a reasonable conclusion.

Belief is mainly a horrible fucking thing. And I am not talking just about religious things, but rather all things. Belief has a way of taking facts that pertain to something else and twisting them to accommodate the existential confirmation bias already prevalent in the subject's belief system.

Sure, some things are fun to believe, such as stuff when we are kids like Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. But as kids approach the puberty stage they need to be taught to put away their childish beliefs in favor of being conditioned for effective reasoning and rationality.

Beliefs are why the American political landscape is what it currently is. You have people with a high propensity to believe voting for liars like Donald Trump, and most of those people are evangelical Christians. You have partisan politics so extreme that not even absolute proof will not convince the GOP they are dead wrong.

Until our learning systems teach about the pitfalls of belief and place a very strong emphasis on teaching effective reasoning, we are doomed to wallow in a cesspool of beliefs instead of concluding to what the most likely truth actually is according to the facts presented.