astrological charts is a set of rules about
how to decipher the locations of planets,
the sun, and the moon in the sky at the time
of important events. The astrologer will
undertake hours of complex mathematics to
derive a detailed horoscope. This
framework, however, is flawed. There is no
discernible influence of celestial bodies on
humans. Therefore, all the complicated
number crunching in the world makes no
difference because the conclusion is
nonsense. Garbage in: Garbage out.
Proponents have no plausible explanation
for how astrology might work. Various
natural mechanisms have been proposed,
but physically measurable forces fail
because astronomers can demonstrate that
they are too small to be significant.
Therefore, astrologers must resort to some
unknown entity. Whenever you have to
resort to “insert supernatural here,” your
concept is no longer a scientifically testable
hypothesis…
There is a distinct tone of “sciencey-ness”
to astrology. Practitioners will call it
“scientific” based on the methodological,
careful and systematic use of calculations
and real astronomical position data. (Never
mind the various natural laws these
calculations utterly disregard.) They
consider “research” to mean consulting
tables and the rules.
Astrology is an unworkable, failed theory.
Its predictions are so imprecise that they
are difficult to test. Astrologers have not
provided an acceptable, natural basis of
why humans should be so influenced by
celestial conditions at a particular time. The
astrological paradigm has failed to
contribute any knowledge to the social
sciences. Imagine how USEFUL such a
theory could be, and yet…it isn’t at all.
Except to those who benefit from the feeling
of a semblance of control over their affairs.
At no time would a scientist say that a
cause simply did not matter so long as he
believed it to be true. This is what
astrologers have done—exhibiting a clear
indication that astrology stands today as a
belief system; it is not scientific, it is a
pseudoscience.
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