Huge arguments have raged over whether Pluto is a planet or not and other orbiting objects rival Pluto.

Astrology is a comfort blanket. It's an escape. It's nonsense.

Ummmmm, no.

I studied astrology and found a lot of the ideas interesting. Everyone's chart is different because it all has to do with place and time so the silly general information in newspapers and you tube is what causes people to take things personally. Imagine a world in which all Virgos won the lottery on the same day. I never just trash anyone's beliefs as I think we all come to our own conclusions through various methods. My bet is that if you had posted on shamanism you would have gotten a similar array of disbelief. But to me it doesn't matter because these types of discussions help facilitate the sharing of opinions and just go to prove that you can't put a label on someone, such as the label Atheist and think that everyone with that label is the same.

Belief in astrology makes no rational sense. How can a group of arbitrarily chosen stars, hundreds of millions of miles and light years distant from each other have any influence on our lives. Astrology makes even less sense than religion.

Johannes Keppler once said "If astrologers do sometimes tell the truth, it ought to be attributed to luck". He said this during his time in Graz where he worked as (among other things) an astrologer during which time he predicted an exceptionally cold winter (1595), an attack by the Turks and a peasant uprising... all of which came true. He knew that it was only coincidence and that the stars are not moving to tell us anything but because of natural forces. His laws of planetary motion came scary close to predicting gravity and after Newton there can be no question, astrology isn't the 'gods' telling us anything but rather natural laws that govern the motions of the planets.

Even theologians like Augustine and Martin Luther knew Astrology was problematic. They referenced the story of Jacob and Esau pointing out they were born at the same time with the same astrological sign and yet their lives were completely different.

That being said, it's easy to see why it is that ancient, ignorant people believed the stars were telling us about the future. Using Ptolomaic astronomy they were able to predict the seasons. They knew when to plant seed and when the harvest would come. They thought that the earth was the center of the universe and that there was celestial spheres that rotated in which were embedded the planets and the outer-most sphere was embedded the stars. Everything from the moon down was in a state of flux and changing while everything from the moon up was immutable and perfect. They had no idea we were in a spiral galaxy nor did they have any understanding that there were billions of galaxies. They didn't understand gravity nor did they realize the earth rotated around the sun.

Astronomy was invented by these very same people based on astronomy that was hopelessly wrong which even ancient astronomers like Regiomontanus knew there were problems with their astronomical model but didn't exactly know what. Astrologers back then would routinely blame their inability to accurately predict the movement of the planets (which they didn't know were any different than stars) as the reason an astrological prediction didn't come true. Suffice it to say, astrology is bogus.

First error is the first few words. Makes the rest really irrelevant.

"Maybe we're not supposed to believe..." We are individuals sharing, by definition, but one disbelief. The rest is open; attempts to build corrals around our minds notwithstanding.

To be atheist must not surrender to being AN 'Atheist'. Do that and invite hordes of self-appointed, sniffy prigs to start dictating to you THEIR criteria qualifying you as'a true Atheist or a good Atheist. Soon they'll be telling you what 'WE're not supposed to believe', sometimes even with talking points if they think you're too botched to know why you're prohibited.

I tell those who ask I'm a different sign than I am and let them tell me how they see it in me. No, I don't think there's anything to astrology.

I think it was Billy Connolly who said,
"I'm a Saggitarius. Half man, half horse, licensed to shit in the street."

Sorry Ace, it's bunk. Though I will admit I sometimes turn to the horoscope page and think, "maybe the entire universe is all about me." Then I realize I'm a self-absorbed primate and get over it.

Perhaps, you are agnostic. You may not believe in coventional gods, but you do believe in some sort of super-natural being. In the end, you will end up being a theist.

No, it's just something made to make people feel special. It has no real or potential worth because it's not grounded in reality. Generally it's just a general, vague statement that could be applied to the majority of people and whose implication is disregarded immediately because it's not actually saying anything.

I think some of these answers are summed up by going to youtube and searching for 'dara o'briain racism is better than astrology'. Sorry I'm not used to posting links and there surely is a better way of getting to this.

you can believe what you like. personally, I think its just more crap.

I'd rather find out which Pokemon I am most like.

If all the planets were aligned at the same time. It would have less gravitational effect on you than a delivery truck going past your driveway. Okay so much for what astrology says about how it works. Next lets look at Guaquelin’s horoscope experiment. This shows how susceptible people are to believe and how subjective conclusions should be viewed with suspicion. The only part of this pseudo-science that might make sense is the time of year you start school. People born in september-october are slightly older than their contemporaries throughout the education process and therefore may have more confidence.

Sorry to say it has been debunked many times. Though I do find it entertaining.

I am an agnostic. My dad was too and my mom was, well, I'm not sure what she was, but she was raised in the United Church. She was kinda into astrology and as a teen in the fun-filled 80s, I read a couple of books she had by Linda Goodman: "Sun Signs" and "Love Signs". I actually really identified with them (I'm an Aquarian) and, looking at my three kids and their personalities, I do think there is something to it because they more or less fit into their signs (I had my chart done, and those of my kids, some years ago and the personality traits described were almost an exact match), but I think horoscopes like the ones you find in the paper are a bunch of BS.

I recently had a friend give me a reading on my birth date, time of birth, etc etc etc., and about 50% of it was bullshit with inaccuracies and contradictions. When you are vague and general for entire populations of people then some things will stick and some will be explained as "not understanding the terminology" or "now the things that seem to contradict itself just means that that is a way you could have turned out or behaved if you went a different path". Those were their exact words. Some contradictions I told her about were explained away as me being wrong, and that the charts don't lie. The second quote seems eerily familiar to the term "altenative facts" lol. You know, those things that aren't true or never happened lol

There are a few studies being done about nutrition and personality after birth. However in our current world, nutrition isn't as effected by seasons. So it might have been something once, but now the influence of food availability to nutrition is less influenced by seasonal availability.

I feel like I didn't word that well. If that's the case let me know, I'll clarify.

I find it entertaining and a fun curiosity but don't put much into it. Over time I've noticed the generations given to particular signs being more often in correlation with what is described than not. Of course that is one person's perception and can be self fulfilling. I still loosely pay attention to someones sign when considering them as a potential date. ?

BS I'm a Virgo
Taurus' and Virgos are supposed to be a good match. ?

Don't "believe" in astrology, but Taurus bosses are the suckiest assholes on Earth. And Pisces are compulsive effing liars. That is all.

Hi Alco, [ no offense intended ! ] The monthly symbols provided in astrology have simply been attained by linking up a number of suitably situated stars to form a close approximation to some chosen object. How this resultant action can be made to provide detailed information about the future life of a person, depending on which month they were born in,in my estimation, depends on the gullibility of the follower. I say, if people wish to entertain themselves by following the information provided, then why not ? let them have their fun. The acceptance of this belief is just as fruitless as the billions of people who allow their lives to be totally controlled by religious dictates.

Astrology isn't true at all and has data showing these are just pointless barnum statements that apply to large swathes (most of) the population, Google scholar is your friend

Wait - a woman conceives in August and gives birth 9 months later and it's an astrological event?