Astrology is the study of celestial objects’ movements and relative positions to divine information about human affairs and terrestrial happenings; it is the study of the sun, stars, moon, and planets. This research entails observing the positions of various celestial cosmos during people’s births in the hope that their personalities, relationships, and economic fortunes may be affected (Thagard, 1978). Top scientists in other domains have called astrology a pseudoscience for many years. Due to the ambiguity and lack of empirical support, we shall argue that astrology is pseudoscience in this study. Nonetheless, they consistently fall short, or their findings raise more concerns than they address. An experiment conducted in 2000 established that astrology is nothing more than a guessing game. Ten notable astrologers were invited to complete a survey and predict which political contender would succeed the then sitting President. Four astrologers correctly predicted Bush, four accurately projected Gore, and the remaining two could not make definitive forecasts. The projections corresponded to polls of the split US populace. Following the election, astrologers asserted that the outcome was evident because Mercury was stationed directly on the election night. Our final report will center on the concept of astrology as a science!
Astrology is the study of how stars and planets appear to affect human activity, such as to conduct and personality characteristics, based on their positions and attributes in the sky. A horoscope is defined as a ‘diagram of the relative positions of the planets and signs of the zodiac at specified dates (birth) that astrologers extensively use for linking and inferring individual character and personality traits, as well as foretelling life events.’ According to Leonid Kurochkin, Astrology is a pseudoscience because it arbitrarily blends scientific astronomy facts with nonsensical beliefs (Baram-Tsabari & Osborne, 2015). Additionally, confidence in this proposition implies that objects in the solar system parallel to a person’s birth date are a reliable predictor of future events (e.g., marriages, divorces, significant life events). The only thing that research has established thus far is that there may be cause for alarm. That concerns those who make significant life decisions solely based on astrological predictions.
Singularly, there are some quacks dismiss criticism, rationalize their inability to provide scientific evidence and justify their use of anecdotes and pseudoscience by claiming that they are all “too busy” helping others to bother with trivialities like evidence, science, or reason. They know. They do not require any “steeking” science (Nguyen, 2018). For instance, Jenny McCarthy’s YouTube video concerning the truth in explaining the anti-vaccine controversy is skewed. It is shambles. She and her boyfriend have spread egregious misinformation about vaccines, particularly the “toxin” gambit. Her scientific knowledge is so risible that most scientists can’t decide whether to laugh or cry when watching the video. She continues to spread lies about vaccines containing antifreeze and “fetal parts.” As evidenced by McCarthy’s questions, nothing she says about vaccines, autism, or science is grounded in reality. Jenny McCarthy’s campaign uses the power of echo chambers to disseminate vaccine misinformation. An ‘echo chamber’ is a social structure that actively discredits other relevant voices. Whereas an epistemic bubble excludes opposing viewpoints, an echo chamber causes its members to distrust outsiders actively. The result is a startling resemblance to the emotional isolation techniques commonly used in cult indoctrination.
According to mental-health specialists in cult recovery such as Margaret Singer, Michael Langone, and Robert Lifton, cult indoctrination involves new cult members being taught to distrust all non-cult members. This acts as a social buffer against attempts to extract the indoctrinated individual from the cult. It is challenging, according to Nguyen (2018), to get someone out of an echo chamber by “bombarding them with ‘evidence.'” Indeed, an aggressive attack on an information filter may well reinforce a more formidable barrier – the trusted filter. As a result, evidence is required to back up claims, making astrology a pseudoscience-based niche
James Randi, a professional magician, author, lecturer, and investigator, discovered only a few future prediction methods. Randi predicted the future using the stars or palmistry, which involves “reading the lifelines” on the palm to determine a person’s future and character, or numerology, which consists in interpreting the order of the numbers in a person’s birth date or the numbered order of the letters in a person’s name. Astrology has been subjected to scientific examination, and no evidence has been discovered to substantiate the properties of astrological backdrops (Thagard, 1978). The belief that Astrology affects humans through palmistry, zodiac/galaxy readings, and numerology is the best illustration of a pseudoscience.
Additionally, the birth chart fallacy reinforces the complementary relationship between astrology and pseudoscience. Astrologers use the birth date and location to create a visual representation of planets that appear stupid to the rational mind; they refer to this as the birth chart, but ‘what EXACT time are they looking for? Is it the 9-month-old moment of conception? Is it the exact moment the baby’s head emerges from the womb? Is it when the baby is completely detached from the mother’s body? What is it, and more importantly, why is it at that particular moment?’ Numerous people are born at the same time worldwide, but none of them share similar life experiences (Baram-Tsabari & Osborne, 2015). Additionally, astrology has ignored the effect of this component on animals. If the time of birth is significant, then an animal born at the same time and place as a person should have the same fate. Why haven’t these factors been applied to animals? The failure to address these questions or rationale for these assumptions reinforces the case for classifying astrology as pseudoscience.
Nonetheless, astrology is a genuine issue, not a “real science” comparable to biology or astronomy. Nevertheless, individuals maintain that it is a science despite the absence of scientific studies to support it. There is currently no evidence that astrology is a scientific idea. From the seventeenth century to the current day, astrologers continue to lack reasoning facts and are even unresponsive when their beliefs’ reliability is questioned. Is astrology becoming increasingly popular and relied upon due to the public’s lack of education? Does this suggest that critical thinking should be instilled in children early? What do astronomers think about astrology as science versus pseudoscience? Astrology is, without a doubt, the oldest and, at the same time, the most popular pseudoscience. The most incredible way to understand astrology is to study how it began (Baram-Tsabari & Osborne, 2015). Any new agriculture would have been impossible without an accurate calendar that informed farmers when to harvest.
For instance, the Babylonian priests were also responsible for constructing and preserving the calendar’s accuracy. However, there is a greater degree of prejudice toward the concept of astrology as a pseudoscience. It is a natural human propensity to remember prophecies that came true and forget about those that did not. This phenomenon is referred to as ‘confirmation bias.’ ‘For instance, a correct horoscope will be remembered, whilst an incorrect one will be forgotten or ignored.’ It enables the freedom to make inaccurate forecasts, which a person is prone to forget. Claims that become true are widely broadcast, and people tend to believe in superstitions that are nothing more than random and probabilistic coincidences (Thagard, 1978). Even if one of the ten assertions proves accurate by chance, it is accentuated and used to cause dread in public minds. At the same time, the other nine are purposely cast into darkness by astrologers and astrology detractors.
Based on the fallacies mentioned above, it can be concluded that astrology is a pseudoscience. The tenets upon which it is built are erroneous and were invented by the human mind to deceive people from reality, cause fear in innocent reasons, and trick them into making donations or paying the astrologer’s consultation fee. These activities must be halted by educating the public and obtaining clarifications regarding the pervasive ambiguity from astrological practitioners who prevaricate when confronted. Hypotheses that fail to verify any forecast or provide a rational explanation are ignored. Those responsible for promoting superstition and misleading the masses should be punished. Thus, Voltaire is correct when he states, “Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy: the mad daughter of a wise mother.”
References
Baram-Tsabari, A. & Osborne, J. (2015). Bridging Science Education and Science Communication Research. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 52(2), 135–144.
Nguyen, T. (2018). Escape the Echo Chamber. https://aeon.co/essays/why-its-as-hard-to-escape-an-echo-chamber-as-it-is-to-flee-a-cult
Thagard, P. (1978). Why Astrology is a Pseudoscience. file:///C:/Users/JUSTUS/Downloads/Thagard_Why_Astrology_is_a_Pseudoscience1.pdf
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