Earlier quoted context omitted.
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Love to see anti-intellectualism on "Hacker" News.
bazinga
Young people are flocking to astrology
901–910 of 972 posts
Re: Young people are flocking to astrology
#902Earlier quoted context omitted.
Dude, lighten up. She was playing a game with you, probably flirting. And you didn't play the game very well. Mysticism is fun, aesthetic, and filled with more questions than answers. Play the game some time, you might enjoy it. I also can't believe you actually found a way to weasel racism into the conversation. It's all so tiresome.
This shit is exactly why astrology is so frustrating. You can't pin down whether somebody actually believes what they're saying – when challenged it's all in good fun, but the things people actually say and appear to believe are completely absurd. "More questions than answers" my ass – there are NO answers here. It's a "game" when convenient, I guess. This wishy-washy trolling attitude reminds me of all the alt-right…
I think the fact that you find other people's beliefs frustrating says more about yourself and how you deal with the world than about the value of those beliefs.
Emotional intelligence is real, and being easily frustrated (specially when that frustration comes from being so sure that you're right and someone else is wrong) is a sign of low emotional intelligence.
Re: Young people are flocking to astrology
#903Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
> 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. Not much of a model IMHO. You just give ultra general predictions for every sign such that everyone will go “that’s true” or “that actually happened” no matter who they are - unless they are really weird.
From direct observation, people who are persuaded astrology tend to know a lot of people. You could say a sort of map to observe and predict relationships across all the people you already know and all the people you will meet is useful.
Conversely, people who are very outspoken against astrology don't have as varied, dynamic and big social circles. Hence they'd not need a "social map", and they might even lack the social intelligence to realize that other people do.
Re: Young people are flocking to astrology
#904Earlier quoted context omitted.
There comes times that you need to put your own principles aside for the good of yourself and for the other person, and forget trying to be "correct" all the time. Life gets a lot better when you realize that you probably can't, and shouldn't, try to change people's minds.
> shouldn't, try to change people's minds. Yeah the abolition of slavery was a mistake. We shouldn't have tried to change people's minds about that. We also should never have changed people's minds about smoking not being bad. Just let people believe what they want to believe. Live and let live. Fully agree with you.
I hope the day comes when you realize how stupid this comment is, and even more so how stupid it was to hit the reply button :)
Re: Young people are flocking to astrology
#905I 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…
Based on experience, highly intelligent people can and do believe in things that are absurd.
Re: Young people are flocking to astrology
#906Earlier quoted context omitted.
>> they know it happened because people saw him both dying and living afterwards, so it boils down to whether you believe their accounts. I come from a religious background, born and raised catholic, and even in our indoctrinating upbringing it was made clear that the new testament isn't eyewitness testimony. It's a written story of something someone said. Given the age of the material this is the best we're going to…
Wikipedia is incredibly biased when it comes to certain topics, especially anything pertaining to Jesus. The irony is, the section you have quoted doesn’t even have a source attached! More reading: https://larrysanger.org/2020/05/wikipedia-is-badly-biased/
It's better than Britannica and other encyclopedias and has been for over a decade.
Just because it doesn't support your _preferred_ narrative doesn't undermine the fact that it's effectively the most trustworthy source on damn near any topic including that one.
Re: Young people are flocking to astrology
#907Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is it rational to believe in humanism? Is it rational to believe in social progress narratives? Is it rational to believe in science as a "force for good"? I have only met a few "true atheists" -- people who do not deeply believe in some narrative that provides meaning and exists outside of the material world.
> I have only met a few "true atheists" -- people who do not deeply believe in some narrative that provides meaning and exists outside of the material world you mean, people who don't believe there's a god (theism is a belief in a god, not just any belief or even any religion) that's what an atheist is (which is the same thing as a "true atheist" , as long as we're making up phrases) a good example of an atheistic be…
> that's what an atheist is
Generally atheists claim to be skeptical of all religion and mysticism regardless of whether it claims a "creator god". If you want to be pedantic and say someone who believes in ghosts, but not God is still be an atheist, well ok.
My point is that almost all people hold unexamined beliefs as non-material and unscientific as any religion. Hence they are not inherently more rational.
> be excellent to each other
I think the rule you are describing is not well defined at all. Are you treating them well because it's right, or because it's a benefit to you? If it's just comfort, then it only makes sense when it's convenient for you, or likely to be reciprocated.
Should you do what makes other people feel good? Or what is actually good for them? After all, it "sucks" when people try to make you do things. How would you know when to violate your rule of being "excellent"?
Re: Young people are flocking to astrology
#908Earlier quoted context omitted.
This shit is exactly why astrology is so frustrating. You can't pin down whether somebody actually believes what they're saying – when challenged it's all in good fun, but the things people actually say and appear to believe are completely absurd. "More questions than answers" my ass – there are NO answers here. It's a "game" when convenient, I guess. This wishy-washy trolling attitude reminds me of all the alt-right…
I think the fact that you find other people's beliefs frustrating says more about yourself and how you deal with the world than about the value of those beliefs. Emotional intelligence is real, and being easily frustrated (specially when that frustration comes from being so sure that you're right and someone else is wrong) is a sign of low emotional intelligence.
I think it is okay to try to be correct – or at least not demonstrably wrong – about the nature of the universe.
Some people think its inappropriate to question other peoples' "beliefs", I do not. The beliefs in question are harmful, so yes, I get frustrated when people talk in circles and don't take responsibility for the things they say.
Notably, you have avoided talking about the "value of those beliefs" in favor of lecturing me about how I should feel. Which, in fact, depends on the value of those beliefs. Which is what I wanted to talk about.
Re: Young people are flocking to astrology
#909Re: Young people are flocking to astrology
#910Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Imagine if the celestial spheres have a particular electromagnetic relationship with the Earth The kind that falls away with square of the distance, where Saturn is far enough away that light takes > hour to travel? This is very much a [ ... ] and so astrology argument. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Ya3F6jVFM
No, the kind that fills up the entire universe with filaments. Literally the universal Indra's net: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birkeland_current
Birkeland currents flow following magnetic field lines.
The Earth's magnetosphere is shaped by solar winds, rounded on the sunside extending 6-10 x Earth radius with a longer tail opposite the sun that extends up to 1,000 x Earth radius.
The Earth's radius is very small compared to the 1 AU Earth distance from Sun and smaller again compared to the distances between planets.
So, rather than "filling the entire universe" the currents you've linked flow through a magnet field that rapidly dwindles with the inverse square of distance and neither the electric currents nor the magnetic field reach to another planet (nor vice versa).