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Is Astrology really a pseudoscience? ~~

Elysieum

Requiescat en pace.
258
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10
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  • Astrology isn't connected to science. It's a kind of divinity, like reading tea leaves and drawing conclusions from it.

    One only needs to pick up a lifestyle magazine and skim through a horoscope to see how flimsy astrology is.
     
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  • I know several people who are "into" astrology. One has a science degree. Another actually is an astrologer himself with a very complex algorithm he uses, but even he says that, essentially, astrology shows you a "path" laid out in front of you and that you can choose not to walk that path. So, like, I can see that it's got an appeal and can be pretty persuasive, and it's fun, but I can't see how there is a real scientific backing for it.
     

    Sir Codin

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    Astrology is certainly one of the biggest problems of the world considering there's people out there who will literally throw money away or engage in risky behavior just because of a prediction.
     

    Venia Silente

    Inspectious. Good for napping.
    1,232
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  • For something to qualify as a science, or even as a pseudoscience, it has to provide a means of study (a method) that leads to repeatable and predictable results. Based on that criteria alone I can not see any way Astrology can be considered any close to a science or pseudoscience. I have never heard of any studies where the lifestyle and life events of a sizable population sample organized by year of birth have been predicted to feasibility.

    Then again, some of the predictions Astrology makes are so flimsy ("you will meet someone today" or "you will use shows tomorrow" tier) that in a certain way it can't be argued that the results are not repeatable. It is the falseability of the method tha is the problem. To compare, homeopathy is in kinda sorta the same situation yet has the inverse problem: mostly well specified method, but unverifiable results.
     
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  • Not exactly pertaining to the question as it's been answered already, but I've heard people defending astrology saying "it's just harmless fun", but there are a lot of so-called "experts" who rip people off with this make-believe BS, so be careful out there.
     

    RetroBacon

    ~ <3
    29
    Posts
    9
    Years
  • Most people who consume astrology nowadays don't even subscribe to regular horoscopes; it's mostly a Facebook meme here or there that makes somebody go "omg that is so me" while they sift through dozens of others that don't describe their sign exactly the way they want it to.
     
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