Way of the Mind

It had to happen soon or later, and so, 3 days since this blog was created, here is an entry that is sure to offend a lot of people.

Astrology, of which are several kinds (the “sun signs” one, which everyone knows about, is just one) is thousands of years old. Which makes a lot of sense - when there is no science at all to tell us how life, the universe and everything work, and people do want to know, they are bound to invent something… to imagine something may be true, and then unconsciously change that belief to: it is true. Thus, our cave dwelling ancestors would believe that a thunderstorm was “the wrath of the gods”, and would scurry around trying to figure out what they could probably have done to offend the gods, and how they could appease their anger. Hey, what about a sacrifice? If an animal isn’t enough, maybe sacrificing your youngest daughter will really prove your faith…

Back to astrology, though.

Astrology is one of those things that a lot of people believe in (even though they - most of them, that is - don’t let it affect their lives too much), but almost don’t think about. In other words, people believe in it because, well, people believe in it.

But if they did think about it… (note: I’m restricting myself to the common “sun signs” astrology, because I don’t know a lot about the other types)

• in general: why are the celestial bodies that were known millennia ago so important to our lives, when they are so far away? And why only those, and not the ones discovered later?
• why is the exact date and time of our birth so important? Why does, and how can, it determine our personality? Why birth, and not conception, for instance? Do I have a personality exactly like someone who was born at exactly the same day, hour and minute?
• does the Ursa Major constellation look like a bear? Or like a frying pan? To me, it’s the latter, but, of course, if frying pans didn’t exist, I’d probably see something else there (never a bear, though - what were they smoking? ) Isn’t it obvious that the constellations are named after what people imagined in them, thousands of years ago? If they were named today, people would probably “see” different things in them. Maybe “Leo” would have been a car, for instance. If so, would “Leos” be good drivers, instead of egotists? What if people had seen something else in Gemini? Would their supposed “duality” not exist any more?
• have you noticed that the sign descriptions are intentionally vague, and could apply to people of many different signs? People just see what they want to see, what they are looking for - it’s called confirmation bias, look it up.

I could say a lot more, but I’d rather point you here, for a more scientific explanation. But I ask you: do you believe in astrology? You probably do, even if just a little. Have you asked yourself “why”? Thought about it for a couple of seconds?

You may be surprised if you do.

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Related posts:

1. Different kinds of atheism and agnosticism