641–650 of 972 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or The Guardian, CNN, Fox News, and every highly profitable news outlet. They all follow the same playbook left by William Randolph Hearst: sensationalism, jumping to conclusions on behalf of the reader, etc.
Or nearly every small outlet, YouTuber, podcast and independent blog. They, too, are trying to be profitable, after all.
I have a pet theory that things like astrology, tarot, the I Ching, Myers Briggs, etc. are valuable (and therefore stick around) not because they have a supernatural or scientific ability to make correct predictions, but because they provide a useful framework for discussing topics. So for example, even if tarot doesn't give you supernatural insight, the discussion it generates with the card reader may allow you to r…
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.
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One of those world religions being the irrational belief in the power of science.
> It is not the greatest of modern scientists who feel most sure that the object, stripped of its qualitative properties and reduced to mere quantity, is wholly real. Little scientists, and little unscientific followers of science, may think so. The great minds know very well that the object, so treated, is an artificial abstraction, that something of its reality has been lost. -- C.S. Lewis
What interests me about the article is the fallout between astronomy and astrology, akin to the fallout between medicine and magic. Western scientific culture is so obsessed with the tangible that we minimize (and to some point ridicule) spirituality, although science and spirituality at some point were once one and the same. Human beings need spiritual experiences, and "young" people flocking to astrology seems like…
That is debatable. Spiritual explanations are just easier and we humans are lazy
I have a pet theory that things like astrology, tarot, the I Ching, Myers Briggs, etc. are valuable (and therefore stick around) not because they have a supernatural or scientific ability to make correct predictions, but because they provide a useful framework for discussing topics. So for example, even if tarot doesn't give you supernatural insight, the discussion it generates with the card reader may allow you to r…
You're assuming here that there has to be "real" value at the root. This isn't really true. Astrology, Tarot, the I Ching, or any other kind of divination all serve the same purpose: To provide certainty where there is none . To measure the unknowable. People fear the unknown and risk, divination lets them feel like they have some certainty about the future. Myers Briggs, DISC, and all the other "personality tests" a…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
I have a pet theory that things like astrology, tarot, the I Ching, Myers Briggs, etc. are valuable (and therefore stick around) not because they have a supernatural or scientific ability to make correct predictions, but because they provide a useful framework for discussing topics. So for example, even if tarot doesn't give you supernatural insight, the discussion it generates with the card reader may allow you to r…
I used this exact argument a few years at a corporate team building exercise with one of those Myers Briggs-adjacent personality frameworks. "Oh, I get it now: it's like astrology! Scientifically meaningless, but it does give us an opportunity to talk about how we have different preferences for how we work and communicate." The facilitator didn't seem too impressed by that.
My girlfriend is in the middle of her PhD program and is very intelligent but she's really into this stuff. She makes comments about it in public and I cringe. But the worst part is that half my female friends and all my gay friends love astrology. It's very weird.
I worked in various "alternative" industries in my youth. One day I was having an informal diner with people that, in another context, could have been business partners. One guy was making a killing with an astrology service by phone. He started with those text message based games, that were popular in the 2000'. Remember? "Send 'love' to this number to know if he loves you". And eventually created a full phone call…
If that is the case, what is the pleasure they get out of it? Porn triggers the pleasure centers that sex triggers... but astrology, what does that trigger? Sense of security that you "know" your future after reading your horoscope? Or what? Did the guy have any theory about that?
Atheists need to confront the fact that they have won. In most of the Europe, including the east and in Northern America, traditional religions have crumbled under almost three centuries of secularist onslaught. Major Christian denominations, as well as Judaism, have decreased in relevance and power, to the point when even politicians nominally belonging in these groups actively work against their orthodoxy. Saying y…