Young people are flocking to astrology • Hacker News Board

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#381

Post by nirui » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:31 AM UTC

machina_ex_deus wrote: post #303

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…

Speaking of stereotypes, if anyone takes astrology seriously, I automatically assume they are not intelligent, irrational, and I find it impossible to take them seriously. I consider them beyond reason so I don't even try. If a person's logic and epistemology lead to him believing in astrology, it shows a deeper problem and I don't hope to have an intelligent discussion with them any more than I expect to have an int…

Well, I also do similar kind of judgement. I.e. if someone is seriously religious, flat earth believing or ghost worshiping etc, then I would just assume they... have many things to left learn.

But often as I encountered it, some individual is also too cute to be treated rudely. This is a bit of dilemma, really. Because if you share what you've learned, then no matter how respectful you tried to make it look, they might still switch to defense mode and spoil the feelings.

So, the real question is, if a really cute girl that you like smiling in front of you, and she asks your "star type" (or "constellation"), what would you really do at that spot?

(BTW, you probably don't want to answer G, because I guess it's not hot enough. I'll try A next time)

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#382

Post by badcppdev » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:31 AM UTC

zmgsabst wrote: post #276

midoridensha wrote: post #262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can easily argue the opposite of your assertions, simply by picking different definitions. The "stars and planets" do not influence peoples' lives through the seasons, only the Earth and its relative position to the Sun do, and when someone talks about the "stars and planets" in the context of astrology, they mean other stars and planets besides the Earth and Sun. Dinosaurs do not co-exist with humans, and never ha…

From Wikipedia: > Birds are feathered theropod dinosaurs and constitute the only known living dinosaurs. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bird Bird are in the dinosaur clade, ie the biological group defined by the dinosaur family. Birds are dinosaurs in the same way that humans are mammals.

I'm not going to argue with your clear reference but I will reference this article: https://askabiologist.asu.edu/questions/birds-dinosaurs-rept... which adds a bit of useful context.

"So a reptile is any animal descended from the original group called reptiles. Both birds and mammals share ancestors sometimes referred to as reptile-like animals (Reptiliomorpha), but it's not very common for people to talk about mammals as reptiles."

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#383

Post by bowsamic » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:32 AM UTC

mistercheph wrote: post #157

I don’t understand why people would be flocking to bunk like astrology in a day and age when we have the evidence and tools to improve mental health using psychotherapy, seratonin reuptake inhibitors, and lithium.

> seratonin reuptake inhibitors

The seratonin theory of depression was recently debunked and SSRIs shown to be no better than placebo

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#384

Post by bombolo » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:32 AM UTC

jahewson wrote: post #107

donatj wrote: post #97

The number of people in my life who have recently taken to astrology and started buying "healing" crystals is frankly disheartening. You try to argue with them they just call you toxic. I suspect it's a social virus.

I carry a silicon crystal in my pocket at all times that gives me some pretty awesome powers.

It's not 1 crystal, also glass isn't a crystal, metal and plastic either.

I understand what you're saying but it's just wrong.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#385

Post by bombolo » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:32 AM UTC

pyinstallwoes wrote: post #293

donatj wrote: post #97

The number of people in my life who have recently taken to astrology and started buying "healing" crystals is frankly disheartening. You try to argue with them they just call you toxic. I suspect it's a social virus.

If it makes them happy what's it matter?

Like any religion, they push it on you.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#386

Post by anon-3988 » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:33 AM UTC

bowsamic wrote: post #360

anon-3988 wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I mean, these "self-introspection, consciousness-obsessed cultures like Hindu and Buddhism" are a source of hatred and violence. The Hindu majority is India is on this brutal trend. And in Burma-Birmania-Myanmar, the Buddhist population was almost unanimous in supporting the discrimination against muslims and the ethnic cleansing of Rohingya. People feel they belong to a religion and that those who do not are unenl…

The problem with this is that you as a non practitioner think you can look in and decide which parts of the religion are fluff and which are true. You really can’t, and that’s one of the biggest failures of secular Buddhism. Without significant training on the path there is no way for you to tell what is bs and what is the true deep stuff. I don’t really get this pattern of random westerners coming into Buddhism and…

> Without significant training on the path there is no way for you to tell what is bs and what is the true deep stuff. I don’t really get this pattern of random westerners coming into Buddhism and thinking they immediately know exactly which things the Buddha made up and which he didn’t

Why not? I just read it like any other book. When the Bhagavad Ghita says that there's nothing before and after my existence, that is true as far as I am concerned. I don't read the whole thing like a gospel nor do I think Buddha was correct on everything. He was just another person trying to make sense of things like the rest of us. When the Dhammphada says that I shouldn't dwell on emotions and that I am not my emotions; I can easily get the intuition by using the simulation hypothesis which is something that the people of old didn't have the luxury of.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#387

Post by offices » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:33 AM UTC

seer wrote: post #164

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…

As the saying goes, “all models are wrong, some models are useful” While the astrology “model” is obviously wrong, it must have been useful to someone at sometime for it to have gained such a popularity. Like the “flat earth model” is actually extremely useful if you don’t intend (can’t) travel significant distances - gives you a coordinate system, maps and ways to predict where you’re going to be tomorrow if you tra…

>it must have been useful to someone at sometime for it to have gained such a popularity.

How about blood types?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type_personality_theory

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#388

Post by philipov » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:33 AM UTC

hashtag-til wrote: post #341

jacquesm wrote: post #308

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My advice would be (if you're in it to make a living) to get out and move into finance.

I've been thinking if I should mode from my soulless job in ML to a soulless job in finance.

The "good" news is, pretty soon, they'll be the same thing!

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#389

Post by permo-w » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:33 AM UTC

PartiallyTyped wrote: post #103

somedude895 wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> half my female friends and all my gay friends love astrology That's about exactly my experience. Half my female friends (and about as many on dating platforms), and about three in four of my gay friends. Not a single straight guy ever talks to me about star signs.

The star signs for straight guys are the stock market prediction lines.

or conspiracy theories

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#390

Post by tenderfault » Mon, Jul 24, 2023, 10:33 AM UTC

[...] According to Allied Market Research, the global astrology industry was valued at $12.8 billion in 2021, up considerably from $2.2 billion in 2018. By 2031, it’s expected to rise to $22.8 billion.

Same thing with tarot. These are real markets and will bloom proportionally with depression and lack of education. So when you see $22.8 billion market increase, you now know what you are actually looking at.

On the other hand, these are just 2 games, really. Think gaming industry has to produce a miriad of games to hit $300 billion. It's just they don't sell you hope, just some cheap entertainment to evade from a crappy life.

Show me 2 games worth $12 billion market share.

p.s. and co-star really took it to the next level. beautiful design, extremely well built weekly readings, and i think their backend is coded in haskell :-) Ofcourse i'll buy some hope to get me through to the end of the week.