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Young people are flocking to astrology

washingtonpost.com

411–420 of 972 posts

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#411

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

How though? At least here (NL) the rewards aren't great until you get very senior, which is hard to do with a background in Software Engineering?

Hm, I'm in NL as well and made the switch 15 years ago, compared to what I made writing software I regret not doing it much earlier. Note that 'finance' is a pretty wide area, I would suggest to see if you can work your way into some VC fund at the associate level with that background.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#412

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only independent variable is the date and time of birth. The position of planets and their movements are highly correlated to this variable and won't provide any additional information. And yes, there has been plenty of research on the impact of the birth month, and the time of birth within given day, on a person's development through life.

Similarly, there is evidence and research which demonstrates the evidence that someone's name has pre-determined effects on that persons life; especially in the case of their career or what they are known for. Most surprisingly, even on the account that the individual didn't realize it until being told what their name meant!

I feel like this is much more likely a correlation than a causation. if your name is some middle to upper class fare like Alfie or Penelope, then I can mystically predict you an financially comfortable life from here on in. however, if your name is Deniqua or or Tyler, well my crystal balls have bad news for you

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#413
> It’s the date that determines parts of her personality, her passions, her romantic interests and, to some degree, her life decisions.

One day it came to be from a female colleague during a fun meeting. The vibe was too good to be disturbed, so I just skipped all birthday hoops and told her my star sign is Orion, then I asked her to search online if she wanted to know the attributes.

My fellow nerds, remember, we have a whole 88 IAU designated constellations, and they only got...like 12?? We can win this war and teach em some real astronomy.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#415
post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

There is no qualitative difference between belief in astrology and any of the world's religions. Not saying you're not entitled in disregarding astrology believers but the cut-off point is completely arbitrary and dare I say irrational.

> There is no qualitative difference between belief in astrology and any of the world's religions.

Some of the world's religions can start off from a basis of logic:

* https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/35592365-five-proofs-of-...

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#416

[...] 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 ot…

Ummm, Call of Duty is $31 billion. I'm sure NBA, F1, PGA are all probably multi-billion as well.

LIFETIME series. lifetime.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#417
post #398

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To me there is an a huge difference. I can accept religions, which are adding axioms that aren't falsifiable, and that are usually taught to a person when he is a child. And religions had their roles in shaping society for good. I can accept conspiracy theories and disbelieving the known consensus. I just can't accept a person who, in the age where we know exactly how planets move and what they are, decided to believ…

I feel it's more of a personal background issue. Do you really have objection with planets effects on personality but at the same time feel turning water into wine is plausible in the slightest? To a raised atheist all religions are not far removed from belief in Santa Claus. But to someone with religious people in the family cutting them off may come not as natural as of strangers with astrology brain.

Or how about the sun dancing around the sky?

* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miracle_of_the_Sun

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#418
post #345

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

There is no qualitative difference between belief in astrology and any of the world's religions. Not saying you're not entitled in disregarding astrology believers but the cut-off point is completely arbitrary and dare I say irrational.

One of those world religions being the irrational belief in the power of science.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe we're getting into the unproductive game of definitions, but perhaps stereotyping is still stereotyping when the categories are completely made up. After all, stereotyping implies incorrect categories. Otherwise it would be called classification.

Getting deeper into semantics, I have always understood stereotypes to be an essentially correct general average. Then of course people are so different that the average for a group fits no person in the group more than perhaps 30% so it always ends up being wrong when applied without thought. But the general stereotype is not “completely made up” so to speak, it’s an observed average. Then of course some total crap…

From the viewpoint of the victims of a stereotype, I doubt that the degree of factual foundation which the stereotype possesses makes much of a difference.

Re: Young people are flocking to astrology

#420

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 told her her beliefs were akin to racism.

This is a good point, and also true for any system that may contain biases, e.g. deep learning systems.

However ... generalization is also a key part of what makes us intelligent beings, so let's not assume it's all bad.

For example, if someone is a heavy smoker then they are more likely to get lung cancer is a completely reasonable line of thinking.

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