Young people are flocking to astrology

Post by zen_1 » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 6:20 AM UTC

klabb3 wrote: post #82

maxbond wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, this is a "very intelligent woman in a PhD program" who has a hobby that she shares with her friends, that's no reason to suspect she and her friends can't discuss "important things." My understanding as an outsider is that astrology, tarot, etc function as a shared vocabulary and mythology to communicate about mental health and life's troubles. I think for most people the occult elements are largely aesthetic.…

> Throughout history people have used occult aesthetics to create a heightened experience. Yes and even among hackers. Porting doom to a microwave oven for instance.

Post by cinntaile » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 6:23 AM UTC

fHr wrote: post #115

nprateem wrote: post #66

I had an argument with a girl the other day who was adamant she wanted to know my star sign. I said "you tell me" and after 10 guesses I finally told her. She then went on to tell me what I must like etc - most of which was complete bollocks obviously. I told her her beliefs were akin to racism. Just because of when I was born she thought it was acceptable not to bother to treat me as an individual but as automatical…

I have arguments over this all the time when going on dates. Since the pandemic the topic astrology came up a lot more though, I don't know why. Now I just go with it and show fake interest, makes it way easier. Ofcourse the whole time I'm thinking about ending myself rather than hearing this bs but at least they don't go batshit crazy on me(hitting me sometimes even) and calling me stupid for not trusting it. Clear…

Post by zen_1 » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 6:25 AM UTC

permo-w wrote: post #14

I think the easy way to look at this is that a certain segment of society will always want to believe in something beyond the observable world with the decline of organised religion amongst Western Europeans, astrology is one way they fill that void if astrology doesn't float your boat, there's always witchcraft and tarot, or crystals and alternative medicine. or if you're less inclined towards new-age horse you can…

Post by SapporoChris » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 6:34 AM UTC

luc4sdreyer wrote: post #77

keiferski wrote: post #56

One of my favorite philosophy books is A Secular Age by Charles Taylor. It has a lot of interesting ideas, but a key one is that the “subtraction thesis” of secularity is wrong. By this, he means the narrative that secular society today simply “subtracted” religious beliefs and behaviors of yesteryear. Instead, these things have just morphed into different forms, with astrology being a prime example. It can be unders…

I don't want to support this idea because it goes against my worldview as an atheist from a very conservative society. I grew up on Hitchens and Dawkins. But the YouGov poll [1] that the WaPo article is based seems to support this idea: 30% of Agnostics answered yes to the following question: "Do you believe in astrology, or that the position of the stars and planets influence people’s lives?" [1]: https://today.youg…

Post by throw__away7391 » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 6:35 AM UTC

ZainRiz wrote: post #118

Err_Eek wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

(As an atheist who found The God Delusion to be one of the most important books I've ever read, as it gave me a solid framework of arguing in what I already considered to be true) It's okay to read more digestible books, and not serious academic studies. In fact it's more than okay -- in order to understand an academic study you likely need to do a lot of reading on the topic before hand. A pop sci/culture book is ve…

The challenge with books like The God Delusion is that it's barely one step above strawman arguments. It attacks claims made by some simple lay people, based on their half-baked understanding of their own faiths (which they never really dug into). However, people well versed in the religion don't actually make any such claims. The arguments being debunked are ones that religious scholars themselves would have disagre…