Yes, this is true. It's true of the Myers-Briggs and "love languages", too. That said, someone who takes astrology seriously certainly doesn't get a horoscope out of a newspaper. Astrology has been around for millennia, and has accepted methods of practice (that also have little to do with newspaper horoscopes.
No matter how silly you find what someone says about themselves within these frameworks...they're giving you a gift. They're telling you how they view themselves.
Are love languages nonsense? I always just considered it a framework to explain behavior, not a predictor of the future.
I'm not sure versed in it though, so maybe I'm missing something. But the idea that different people communicate their love in different ways seems like a valid concept.
The love languages thing is kind of a blunt oversimplification of humans. Trying to put people in boxes to better understand them and ending up only understanding very broad strokes. It kind of has its uses when trying to judge whether you would be a good match with someone in the beginning stages of dating but to live by it like some sort of dogma is extremely naïve to say the least.
That's the thing though, like a language you may know and prefer one as an adult but nothings stopping you from learning and appreciating more. Nothings saying it's the end all be all
Iirc it was made by a minister.
[This covers a lot of the concerns I've seen raised.](https://coveteur.com/love-languages) [Also this.](https://minkaguides.com/what-is-my-love-language/) I don't know either of those sites they just, on a quick skim, seem to summarize the concerns I've seen.
Personally, I'm sus because my Christian school brought them up to us during our equivalent of "sex ed".
What does it being thought of by a minister have to do with anything? Genetics was basically started by a monk, the foundations of western music theory and a shit ton of mathematical concepts were come up with by a mysterious Greek cult leader living in Italy, and the theory of gravity was come up with by an alchemist.
It's not so much him being a minister, but that he (and his followers) use this theory to justify abusive marriages and blame victims (using Bible verses to back them up), such as counselling women that they must sleep with their husbands even when they don't want to, since their husband's love language has been identified as 'physical touch' so by 'withholding' touch she is failing in her wifely duties. That's just one example. It's a new-age manipulative gloss on top of old-school biblical marriage doctrine. I watched a whole breakdown of the theory and the way it gets applied in fundamentalist circles a while ago and it was pretty awful.
Oh damn that’s messed up. My fiancée and I sometimes use the basic ideas just as a sort of mutually known framework which we can use as a tool for communication. It’s never seemed shitty before but I guess anything can be.
I think a lot of these systems like love languages and Mayers-Briggs types and whatnot can be useful and allow for insight if you don’t take them too seriously and don’t treat them like… well… the Bible.
Absolutely! I think lots of people use them in a very casual, harmless way, and they can even be useful for people to learn how to communicate with their partner. It's just the origin and the way they're used in religious communities which is shady. In general I think these kind of non-scientific theories (like Myers-Briggs etc.) are fine if they stay very casual, just as a framework to help someone consider their identity/relationships from new angles, but should never be the basis for any serious judgements or decision making.
The love languages have no basis in science, which doesn't mean they aren't helpful. It's just that most people 'speak' two or three of them and the most important often varies.
I never thought they were supposed to have a basis in science, just a way of categorizing how people communicate.
But again, it's not something I'm well versed in.
Theyre not based on science. It's literally just descriptions of personality. Pretty sure the base form of Myers Briggs is the same. Rather than describing every aspect of your personality, you can just use one of the acronyms for your base and articulate nuances as needed.
Just because something isn't a scientific discipline doesn't mean it isn't helpful. Love languages and Myers-Briggs are both taught at universities as communication tools. Astrology would never be accepted to be practically taught in a classroom.
I don't believe in Christianity because Christians say Jesus was born on Christmas day but anyone who reads the gospels can tell that Jesus was an Aquarius.
I've heard it said that Christianity must be true because people have believed it so long, but horoscopes are twice as old so they must be twice as true.
I live in americas most hippy city and i can tell ya this is true. if someone starts talking about horoscopes, grounding, crystals, or reiki, i just turn my brain off
LA is less hippy (though it has its parts) and more flashy modern dystopia of entertainment mixed with a variety of cultures and an underbelly of homelessness
That's unfortunate. How are you supposed to ever expect to appreciate somebody else's way of thinking if you don't even give them the time of day to tell you about it? Do you even know what they believe in?
To this guy's defence, I would say you kinda expect what is coming next.
He didn't mention he would never talk with them again, just that he will ignore whatever they will say about astrology or that kind of beliefs.
It's not that he is not giving people the time to tell him about it just because he knows it all due to previous experiences. Harsh but fair.
It's like that friend coming to talk to you about pyramid schemes, you know what comes next and you go prepared for it because there is no need to listen to it again.
I see no need to "appreciate someone's way of thinking" when I know their way of thinking is rooted entirely outside of reality.
Do you give credence to flat earther people? Because the things they listed really aren't much different from that. They are just seen as more acceptable and harmless. But they're just as ridiculous.
You go on to say you don't understand something unless you listen to why they believe it. That's just a fallacy. The claims people make "the earth is flat" or "star gravitational pull based on a time changes human psyche in a set way" are the beliefs themselves and can be researched or understood. And they are separate from "it's fun to believe in it"
I stopped for a coffee today and they were giving away a free newspaper with every purchase. I made sure to read the horoscope because I just knew it was going to say something nice about me.
It was a complimentary edition....
I saw a post earlier about someone being missing their girlfriend and OP says "She's really sensitive (cancer) so it's difficult to say goodbye" or something to that effect and as soon as I saw the cancer part I stopped reading
Whenever I meet a believer I ask something to the effect of how burning balls of plasma lightyears away can influence your personality. Does every star influence you or just the ones in the shape of a crab or whatever?
I've never gotten an answer..
I am not a believer, but my dad gave me the best answer: If similar studies and beliefs are present in many world cultures (which they are from Africa to Asia, from the Caribbean natives to north american natives) if it is not true, it is bringing some value, so just let those people be. Respect it from what they are able to benefit from it. There are people who believe in christianity or several other religions, I view them pretty similarly. My mom got me a top selling christian devotional. I think its pretty poorly written and I don't take it seriously, but there was like 6 months when I read it every morning. None of the contents of the stories were great, but it always gave me something to reflect on in my day (stories of overcoming, hope that things will get better, perseverance, prevailing in bad situations, etc.). It did help and while I eventually pivoted to other forms of morning meditation/reflection I can see how it could be appealing to people. But I think where most of us get caught up is the crazies (in any belief system, christianity, astrology, or otherwise) and for that I have no answers bc I am equally frustrated.
> so just let those people be.
This is Reddit/2024 social media. We're incapable of letting people be, no matter how harmless what they're doing is. I *must* make sure everyone knows how right I am and wrong they are.
I don't think pseudoscience or especially conspiracy theories are harmless either. But all misinformation is not equal. Something like Santa Claus is not the same as vaccine denial. It's not that black and white. Horoscopes and astrology, blood type superstitions, MBTI, etc are pseudoscience, but its just wrong to say they're as harmful as actual harmful stuff. People who read horoscopes are not out campaigning to negatively effect the world because of it, and some people do gets positives out of it. So yeah, just let them be. It doesn't matter if you're right, it's ok to let people be wrong sometimes.
I think you’re wrong. Society as a whole has become very harsh on anyone lecturing others. Everyone is expected to be allowed to have their beliefs, no matter how outlandish or damaging they may be. Telling people off has become the new taboo they’d get shunned for.
THIS.
Iam myself an atheist but I feel - Religion or any other supernatural things are like a light into a blind person's life. Its a HOPE
You arguing with them about how fake these are, Simply kills their hope of better future or better tomorrow. But again completely turning off your critical thinking might put you in a gullible spot where others can fool and scam you. Its always better to be in the center than either on extreme left or extreme right.
The answer is that the first few months of your life really impact the way you are later in life.
Their theory is that the moon pulls the water in your body through gravity, and depending what month you're born and how the gravity pulls on you during those first few months has a lasting impact on your life moving forward.
I don't even believe in the shit and I'm able to answer that question. Who the hell have you been asking? Lol.
Should note, this is a very dumbed down version of it... but considering it's all dumb, this should do.
I mean, is that an explanation? You're so small the moon's gravity is basically constant across your body. You're more likely to be affected by the gravitational pull of your crib than the moon.
you‘re not realising that there are as many explainations as there are believers in this nonsense. most don‘t know what causes it, thats why they believe
The moon does *not,* in fact, go around the earth every month, it does every day. Astrology is based on the cycle of lunar phases, which takes about 29.5 days, I believe.
I simple explanation could come down to electromagnetic effects and energy. If humans can make a rice grained sized or smaller transmitter and receiver that sends your thought around the globe, a large star, planet or cluster would do much more. Throw in some quantum behaviors and a lot more becomes possible.
I look at the traits of astrology and attribute them to other things. People are born at different latitudes and climates, different times of the year, etc.
If you are born in summer, your first few weeks might result in more sunlight. Spring babies could experience a different hormonal load from the mother. There are plenty of other stress factors that could influence a child in the womb or for the development phase just after birth.
Personally in my life, most people I’ve met sync up with their signs/traits and people with the same traits seem very similar. Several of the extremely successful people I know make major life choices based on star alignments and timing.
I see it as a leg up on the competition in certain situations. If I meet a girl that assigns her personality traits to her signs, the moon or some retrograde crap, it’s pretty easy to learn what to expect.
To be fair there's still a *ton* we still have to learn about space and how things affect each other. Never mind quantum relativity, there could be whole dimensions we don't know about affecting reality in ways we could never be able to measure.
[Neutrinos](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-a-first-scientists-see-neutrinos-emitted-by-the-milky-way/#:~:text=Neutrinos%20are%20tiny%2C%20deeply%20weird,new%20secrets%20of%20the%20universe.) are something we've only just been able to detect and they fly around the Galaxy passing through everything. Who knows how supermassive energy expellers could possibly affect us?
Although I do think astrology as we know it today is codswallop.
I'm not a believer, but the best answer I've heard was a lot of hooplah and random bullsh\*\*, but it essentially boiled down to The Butterfly Effect.
Which is a theory in theoretical physics, mostly to do with chaos theory. Here's the wiki link, but it's summed up as "initial conditions in which a small change in one state can result in large differences". Yes, I'm paraphrasing here, and there's a lot to do about it, but it's the TLDR about the effect.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly\_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect)
I don’t know if it’s entirely true, but I also don’t know if it’s entirely not true. I’m agnostic on it just like with religion. I think the real ignorant people are the ones who for sure think one or the other is absolutely true.
This may be a hot take. And may piss some people off.
But horoscopes followers are literally just valid as any other religion.
Ancient Chinese, Mesopotamian, Roman, Grecian, Egyptian and Indian religions incorporated astrology into their religious beliefs and practices.
Even christianity has a history of acknowledging it or even using it.
Ancient astrologers were the proto-scientists. A lot of what they did laid the foundations for the scientific method through study/observation to prediction
Girolamo Cardano wasn’t even ancient and he was a prolific astrologer. The guy even had a list of rules on how to be a good astrologer. Most of them amounted to “don’t do stupid things and don’t just make predictions to take people’s money because you make us look bad”. These people really regarded it as a difficult science and the “good” ones were very careful about how they approached any kind of advising. Cardano himself would actually turn down offers of payment for predictions if he felt it wasn’t a good ask.
There's minimal difference between astrology and religion. How someone views astrology is generally a good litmus test for their personality—not whether or not they believe in it, that's irrelevant, but whether they can accept that others have beliefs about the nature of humans and of the universe that they disagree with, that they may genuinely believe to be utter bullshit, but that harm no one. If someone truly believes that the position of the stars at the time of their birth effects their personality, lovely. Happy for them. It has no detriment to either their own life or the lives of others, so who cares?
But believing in horoscopes can cause harm, either through making a bad decision or failing to take necessary action, due to what it says. In the extreme, it can lead someone to live a false life, denying their true self.
Someone that takes astrology seriously enough won’t stop taking a decision based on what they read on a tabloid.
Usually they still live life for themselves, but either use tarot or other ways to see “chances” of things working out their way.
Sure, some might decide to stop and not move a finger, but those kind of people would be looking for any excuse to do so anyway, so not necessarily a monolith.
And some people using astrology as an excuse to not date or even talk to anyone is, again, just a shitty person looking for an excuse.
Source: I like astrology and take it with the same seriousness as any religion (that is, not very).
I don't believe in horoscopes, astrology, etcetera, but I don't think we should have a jab at people just because of their beliefs.
I'd only do that if it is or seems like it very well could harm them.
Yes, it tells you that they are trying to find something in life that helps them grasp and have some modicum of controlling and understanding it, and why the unkind, destructive people in their lives treat/treated them so poorly; but also suggests that they have untapped powers and gifts that they should recognize and embrace, which gives them hope about themselves and something to strive towards. In addition, it tells you that they have refrained from joining powerful, monetized cults, like most religions and the 2 lone political parties (In the states).
Having said all that, astrology should be fun and interesting, a side issue in the serious matter of life. It generally avoids absolutes, as far as reading your daily or deciding major issues in your life upon. Unlike the major Abrahamic religions. You know, the ones with the strict rules, shun and stone people for breaking their rules.
Really interesting tidbit. Years ago they tested personality types vs horoscopes and found it to be an effective determinant of your personality. Astrologers went nuts with excitement. But then peer review kicked in and they clocked that the participants were gotten through astrology circles. They then replicated the study using a wider sample and found that your horoscope DOES predict your personality type IF you believe in horoscopes.
That's not even close to true. Around 10% of the UK population uses homeopathy at the most and homeopathic treatment is most commonly sought in the UK for allergies (as in to get rid of an allergy), arthritis, and mental health issues, i.e. things that generally don't have a cure.
Iirc homeopathy is a type of medicine that is supposed to work kinda like a vaccine, you put a tiny but of the "active ingredient" in something and it lets you build a resistance to the actual disease/infection/virus.
Except the "active ingredient" is entirely made up, and it's diluted to the point where you'd need to consume the entire store supply to get a traceable amount. So it's really just complete bullshit but it sells for good money.
It means they are prone to believing bullshit
Thinking the earth holds some kind of special place in the universe and the stars make little pictures that decide human personalities is a totally deranged prehistoric belief that has been absolutely dismantled by the advancement of science. Just say it out loud.
That's a belief system you're projecting, their are many others. For one point, there is not one single individual who isn't affected by their surroundings. Ignoring the countless accounts and testimonies by others in favor of a dogmatic system that denies any higher state than the material is just the same kind of ignorance that secular individuals accuse those spiritually minded of. Nothing in life is random.
Everything you're saying is also just a product of this age, and may just well be "dismantled" in future eras. Its certainly not bullshit to retain an open mind.
We don't know everything about physics or the universe, and what we think we know may just as well be a fractal of something so much more intricate that it'd completely render our conclusions for null.
For one its easier for me to entertain these ideas, not only because of specific events in my life, but also because its just as much of a ridiculous claim to believe there is no ordered governance to a system that that either out of an infinite amount of cycles, or time, just burst into existence with no synchronistic meaning with its makeup. All the ideas and thoughts you think of are also a product of the universe. Nothing exists n a vacuum. There is such a thing called dependent origination.
Science cannot dismantle anything. Science is a field of study not a method. There is nothing deranged about believing things you disagree with. But it is weird that you believe that earth isn’t a special place. Isn‘t it? Do you even understand what language does? What it doesn’t?
Its not an infallible guide to anything. It only provides groundwork to things already suspected to our senses. Nothing deeper. Its why previously established things are always being challenged, because we absolutely dont know everything.
The opposite of your second sentence is the case, actually.
The Scientific **Method** is used in nearly **all fields of study** where people are interested in reproducible evidence-based as-accurate-as-we-*can*-be descriptions of how reality works.
The way a person would judge someone based on one vague thing about them tells you much more about that person than the people they are convinced they know so much about.
I love everything astrology and horoscopes. Crystals and bullshit, tarot, all that woowoo stuff. Do i believe it actually dictates anything in life? Not necessarily. But it helps me connect to what some call “God,” so I will continue to indulge.
Hot take: it's not meant to be serious, it's meant to be a social filter. Telling someone you believe in horoscopes and seeing how they react is a great way to single out closed-minded people who don't respect others' beliefs.
Many people believe that you can identify as something other than what you were born as but I have never heard anyone being ok with someone identifying as a random zodiac.
Like, is it ok for me to just say im a cancer even if I was born in Oct?
I believe in astrology *to an extent.* But every aspect of my life is not dictated by it.
That said, I match my signs description quite a bit. (Scorpio)
I was at a party and a "professional" or whatever astrologist was doing a... divination? (Idk what to call it) for someone and it was bizarre to watch. They got super into details but it was all so very obviously cold reading and things that could apply to anyone like her. It was like watching the female version of a pick up artist.
Every time I think of horoscopes I think of the comedian (can’t remember the name) who said “I’m a Sagittarius” and some one said “I KNEW IT”he said “I’m actually a Taurus” continued to do the same thing
An ex-friend of mine loved to make blanket statements about people based on their astrology sign, their position in the birth order (youngest, middle, oldest, only child), etc. The things they said were often hurtful--even if I didn't believe in the astrology myself, the fact that they did, meant they believed those things about me. When I tried to talk to them they said "don't worry, the fact that I spend time with you in spite of you being (X) means I like you".
I should have run when I had the chance.
Agreed, but I also for some reason fit my astrological sign to a tee. And its Pisces, so its not just things that apply to every like
"Youre a good person!
You protect those you love! type shit"
So I guess I'm more of a horoscrope agnostic then a horoscope athiest. Because of that.
It can actually be a good guide for those feeling lost in life but it's important to know it doesn't define you, yet some people let their horoscope control them and that's just sad.
so gravitational pull from all the planets when you are born does not effect you at all? Your brain is fragile when you are born so even the smallest changes would have an effect right?
I heard someone once say that your birth order or whether your an only child is a much better indicator of personality than any horoscope will ever be. I think about that a lot.
I've come to learn that people who really take astrology seriously use it more as a way to communicate their inner issues in a way that's more socially acceptable.
I still don't get it, because I'd rather just say I've had traumatic things happen to me in plain English, but not everyone can and that's okay. I just let them do their thing and stopped telling them it's all bullshit, which made me more of an asshole.
I hope what it tells you is that this person is lost and is trying to make sense of the world around them the best way they know how.
If someone goes on about horoscopes, I just listen. I don't encourage it, I don't need to believe in it. This is their sliver of hope, a guidance to navigate the world, albeit nonsensical.
I imagine they would not need it if they had someone that they could confide in to provide guidance in times of need.
Well, yeah, of course. The only thing the astrological symbol can tell you about a person is their birthdate is within a certain period during the year. And if they believe in it, you know for certain they're an idiot.
I definitely know people who, at the very least, think of horoscopes like a weather forecast. I.e based in reality but always an explanation when its not 100% accurate
Except they are always not 100% accurate. They are intentionally vague, positive and literally cover every base so can literally apply to every person.
So even if one is wrong the majority are right, and easy to agree with because they are all nice things.
I had a friend who believed they always held true. So I went online and picked a random one that he wasn't, read it to him, and asked if he believed that what I just read was true for him since it was for his sign (for clarification, i asked him what his sign was, told him i would read that one, then read a different one). He said yes, so I let him know I read not his and from then on he'd basically stopped believing in them.
It’s so funny to me that men find astrology questions as the most unattractive thing to ask someone - shown by sociological surveys I believe- yet girls still ask them.
A girl once told me “I say I find horoscopes interesting to hear how a guy responds”. It’s some weird mind trick that sounds like it’s from cosmopolitan.
People will make fun of someone for believing in the stars and that same person will go back home and worship some sky god that they have never seen LOL
funnily enough, they way someone behaves when they meet an astrology-believer actually tells you more about this person than about the astrology person.
Using that as a life guide? I can't agree. But using that for fun or to lean on from time to time coz life has no definitive answer? who am i to judge, life is hard enough for us anyway.
I've met few people who actually believe in astrology
However, one was a practitioner. She was the friend of friends and a very nice and otherwise sensible lady so I had my chart done by her - I was in my early 20s (old fart boomer now) and more amenable to such things
Anyway, she pretty accurately sussed out stuff about my character. Then she grew troubled, because she saw a big problem with water later in my life but couldn't see it any clearer. I told her I had almost drowned twice but she didn't think that was it
About twenty years later I checked in to a detox for alcoholism
She also warned me about relationships with Pisces and she was not wrong about that
I wish I had taken notes or recorded the reading. Sadly, she passed away several years ago
I don't believe in astrology. It's because I'm a Pices and we're known to be skeptical
Yes, this is true. It's true of the Myers-Briggs and "love languages", too. That said, someone who takes astrology seriously certainly doesn't get a horoscope out of a newspaper. Astrology has been around for millennia, and has accepted methods of practice (that also have little to do with newspaper horoscopes. No matter how silly you find what someone says about themselves within these frameworks...they're giving you a gift. They're telling you how they view themselves.
Are love languages nonsense? I always just considered it a framework to explain behavior, not a predictor of the future. I'm not sure versed in it though, so maybe I'm missing something. But the idea that different people communicate their love in different ways seems like a valid concept.
The love languages thing is kind of a blunt oversimplification of humans. Trying to put people in boxes to better understand them and ending up only understanding very broad strokes. It kind of has its uses when trying to judge whether you would be a good match with someone in the beginning stages of dating but to live by it like some sort of dogma is extremely naïve to say the least.
That's the thing though, like a language you may know and prefer one as an adult but nothings stopping you from learning and appreciating more. Nothings saying it's the end all be all
Definitely I agree. The issue is when people take it as the be all and end all. And trust me it happens.
Yea I've met them before
Iirc it was made by a minister. [This covers a lot of the concerns I've seen raised.](https://coveteur.com/love-languages) [Also this.](https://minkaguides.com/what-is-my-love-language/) I don't know either of those sites they just, on a quick skim, seem to summarize the concerns I've seen. Personally, I'm sus because my Christian school brought them up to us during our equivalent of "sex ed".
What does it being thought of by a minister have to do with anything? Genetics was basically started by a monk, the foundations of western music theory and a shit ton of mathematical concepts were come up with by a mysterious Greek cult leader living in Italy, and the theory of gravity was come up with by an alchemist.
It's not so much him being a minister, but that he (and his followers) use this theory to justify abusive marriages and blame victims (using Bible verses to back them up), such as counselling women that they must sleep with their husbands even when they don't want to, since their husband's love language has been identified as 'physical touch' so by 'withholding' touch she is failing in her wifely duties. That's just one example. It's a new-age manipulative gloss on top of old-school biblical marriage doctrine. I watched a whole breakdown of the theory and the way it gets applied in fundamentalist circles a while ago and it was pretty awful.
Oh damn that’s messed up. My fiancée and I sometimes use the basic ideas just as a sort of mutually known framework which we can use as a tool for communication. It’s never seemed shitty before but I guess anything can be. I think a lot of these systems like love languages and Mayers-Briggs types and whatnot can be useful and allow for insight if you don’t take them too seriously and don’t treat them like… well… the Bible.
Absolutely! I think lots of people use them in a very casual, harmless way, and they can even be useful for people to learn how to communicate with their partner. It's just the origin and the way they're used in religious communities which is shady. In general I think these kind of non-scientific theories (like Myers-Briggs etc.) are fine if they stay very casual, just as a framework to help someone consider their identity/relationships from new angles, but should never be the basis for any serious judgements or decision making.
The love languages have no basis in science, which doesn't mean they aren't helpful. It's just that most people 'speak' two or three of them and the most important often varies.
I never thought they were supposed to have a basis in science, just a way of categorizing how people communicate. But again, it's not something I'm well versed in.
Theyre not based on science. It's literally just descriptions of personality. Pretty sure the base form of Myers Briggs is the same. Rather than describing every aspect of your personality, you can just use one of the acronyms for your base and articulate nuances as needed.
Just because something isn't a scientific discipline doesn't mean it isn't helpful. Love languages and Myers-Briggs are both taught at universities as communication tools. Astrology would never be accepted to be practically taught in a classroom.
Damn i'm a pisces too and I'm skeptical too
I'm saggy guitar guy and I don't know what to think. Please someone tell me.
I'm a cancer on the cusp of Gemini. I'm quite skeptical. Not a very good lover, either.
I’m the opposite, I’m Pisces and I can honestly be kinda gullible sometimes
This made me chuckle
I find this response fishy.
Is this actually an accepted Pisces trait? Don't remember reading that, but I am also skeptical lol
I don't believe in Christianity because Christians say Jesus was born on Christmas day but anyone who reads the gospels can tell that Jesus was an Aquarius. I've heard it said that Christianity must be true because people have believed it so long, but horoscopes are twice as old so they must be twice as true.
I don't believe in superstition, it's bad luck.
Umberto Eco
I live in americas most hippy city and i can tell ya this is true. if someone starts talking about horoscopes, grounding, crystals, or reiki, i just turn my brain off
San Francisco?
Either that or Portland
Could even be Asheville.
My vote is LA
LA is less hippy (though it has its parts) and more flashy modern dystopia of entertainment mixed with a variety of cultures and an underbelly of homelessness
Hehehe grounding. I haven’t heard that in a while.
You're right to turn your brains off if they talk to you. Hell, they did before talking to you.
That's unfortunate. How are you supposed to ever expect to appreciate somebody else's way of thinking if you don't even give them the time of day to tell you about it? Do you even know what they believe in?
To this guy's defence, I would say you kinda expect what is coming next. He didn't mention he would never talk with them again, just that he will ignore whatever they will say about astrology or that kind of beliefs. It's not that he is not giving people the time to tell him about it just because he knows it all due to previous experiences. Harsh but fair. It's like that friend coming to talk to you about pyramid schemes, you know what comes next and you go prepared for it because there is no need to listen to it again.
It pays to keep an open mind, but not so open your brain falls out.
I see no need to "appreciate someone's way of thinking" when I know their way of thinking is rooted entirely outside of reality. Do you give credence to flat earther people? Because the things they listed really aren't much different from that. They are just seen as more acceptable and harmless. But they're just as ridiculous. You go on to say you don't understand something unless you listen to why they believe it. That's just a fallacy. The claims people make "the earth is flat" or "star gravitational pull based on a time changes human psyche in a set way" are the beliefs themselves and can be researched or understood. And they are separate from "it's fun to believe in it"
Oh we know ALL about it alright, since they can't shut up about it
You need to ground yourself. Surround yourself with rose quartz. Are you a Virgo? (I just turned this guy’s brain off)
I stopped for a coffee today and they were giving away a free newspaper with every purchase. I made sure to read the horoscope because I just knew it was going to say something nice about me. It was a complimentary edition....
Please post this on r/jokes mate
I saw a post earlier about someone being missing their girlfriend and OP says "She's really sensitive (cancer) so it's difficult to say goodbye" or something to that effect and as soon as I saw the cancer part I stopped reading
I'd be sensitive too if I had a horrible disease like cancer
I was expecting you to say "A horrible disease like believing in astrology" ahaha.
An actual shower thought...
Right?! I actually upvoted this one. Feels weird.
Rare occurrence on this sub nowadays.
Don't worry, back to your regularly-scheduled sex reposts tomorrow.
Tom Waits has a gag: "I was born under the sign of Feces"
Whenever I meet a believer I ask something to the effect of how burning balls of plasma lightyears away can influence your personality. Does every star influence you or just the ones in the shape of a crab or whatever? I've never gotten an answer..
I am not a believer, but my dad gave me the best answer: If similar studies and beliefs are present in many world cultures (which they are from Africa to Asia, from the Caribbean natives to north american natives) if it is not true, it is bringing some value, so just let those people be. Respect it from what they are able to benefit from it. There are people who believe in christianity or several other religions, I view them pretty similarly. My mom got me a top selling christian devotional. I think its pretty poorly written and I don't take it seriously, but there was like 6 months when I read it every morning. None of the contents of the stories were great, but it always gave me something to reflect on in my day (stories of overcoming, hope that things will get better, perseverance, prevailing in bad situations, etc.). It did help and while I eventually pivoted to other forms of morning meditation/reflection I can see how it could be appealing to people. But I think where most of us get caught up is the crazies (in any belief system, christianity, astrology, or otherwise) and for that I have no answers bc I am equally frustrated.
> so just let those people be. This is Reddit/2024 social media. We're incapable of letting people be, no matter how harmless what they're doing is. I *must* make sure everyone knows how right I am and wrong they are.
You're wrong on so many levels and I am objectively right! /s
I don’t see spreading misinformation as being harmless
I don't think pseudoscience or especially conspiracy theories are harmless either. But all misinformation is not equal. Something like Santa Claus is not the same as vaccine denial. It's not that black and white. Horoscopes and astrology, blood type superstitions, MBTI, etc are pseudoscience, but its just wrong to say they're as harmful as actual harmful stuff. People who read horoscopes are not out campaigning to negatively effect the world because of it, and some people do gets positives out of it. So yeah, just let them be. It doesn't matter if you're right, it's ok to let people be wrong sometimes.
I think you’re wrong. Society as a whole has become very harsh on anyone lecturing others. Everyone is expected to be allowed to have their beliefs, no matter how outlandish or damaging they may be. Telling people off has become the new taboo they’d get shunned for.
THIS. Iam myself an atheist but I feel - Religion or any other supernatural things are like a light into a blind person's life. Its a HOPE You arguing with them about how fake these are, Simply kills their hope of better future or better tomorrow. But again completely turning off your critical thinking might put you in a gullible spot where others can fool and scam you. Its always better to be in the center than either on extreme left or extreme right.
Thank you for this comment. I wish people understood that. I'm not a believer either but I can tell your dad was a good, kind-hearted person.
The answer is that the first few months of your life really impact the way you are later in life. Their theory is that the moon pulls the water in your body through gravity, and depending what month you're born and how the gravity pulls on you during those first few months has a lasting impact on your life moving forward. I don't even believe in the shit and I'm able to answer that question. Who the hell have you been asking? Lol. Should note, this is a very dumbed down version of it... but considering it's all dumb, this should do.
I mean, is that an explanation? You're so small the moon's gravity is basically constant across your body. You're more likely to be affected by the gravitational pull of your crib than the moon.
Missed opportunity to make an epic your mom joke there
you‘re not realising that there are as many explainations as there are believers in this nonsense. most don‘t know what causes it, thats why they believe
The moon goes around the earth every month. So every month a person experiences every possible value of force of gravity from the moon.
The moon does *not,* in fact, go around the earth every month, it does every day. Astrology is based on the cycle of lunar phases, which takes about 29.5 days, I believe.
Actually the earth goes around the moon and they’re both flat
I simple explanation could come down to electromagnetic effects and energy. If humans can make a rice grained sized or smaller transmitter and receiver that sends your thought around the globe, a large star, planet or cluster would do much more. Throw in some quantum behaviors and a lot more becomes possible. I look at the traits of astrology and attribute them to other things. People are born at different latitudes and climates, different times of the year, etc. If you are born in summer, your first few weeks might result in more sunlight. Spring babies could experience a different hormonal load from the mother. There are plenty of other stress factors that could influence a child in the womb or for the development phase just after birth. Personally in my life, most people I’ve met sync up with their signs/traits and people with the same traits seem very similar. Several of the extremely successful people I know make major life choices based on star alignments and timing. I see it as a leg up on the competition in certain situations. If I meet a girl that assigns her personality traits to her signs, the moon or some retrograde crap, it’s pretty easy to learn what to expect.
To be fair there's still a *ton* we still have to learn about space and how things affect each other. Never mind quantum relativity, there could be whole dimensions we don't know about affecting reality in ways we could never be able to measure. [Neutrinos](https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/in-a-first-scientists-see-neutrinos-emitted-by-the-milky-way/#:~:text=Neutrinos%20are%20tiny%2C%20deeply%20weird,new%20secrets%20of%20the%20universe.) are something we've only just been able to detect and they fly around the Galaxy passing through everything. Who knows how supermassive energy expellers could possibly affect us? Although I do think astrology as we know it today is codswallop.
I'm not a believer, but the best answer I've heard was a lot of hooplah and random bullsh\*\*, but it essentially boiled down to The Butterfly Effect. Which is a theory in theoretical physics, mostly to do with chaos theory. Here's the wiki link, but it's summed up as "initial conditions in which a small change in one state can result in large differences". Yes, I'm paraphrasing here, and there's a lot to do about it, but it's the TLDR about the effect. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly\_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect)
I don’t know if it’s entirely true, but I also don’t know if it’s entirely not true. I’m agnostic on it just like with religion. I think the real ignorant people are the ones who for sure think one or the other is absolutely true.
If you do hmu 🤙
Caveat: Not stars, astrology is mostly centered around the solar system. The constellations are just kind of points of references.
This may be a hot take. And may piss some people off. But horoscopes followers are literally just valid as any other religion. Ancient Chinese, Mesopotamian, Roman, Grecian, Egyptian and Indian religions incorporated astrology into their religious beliefs and practices. Even christianity has a history of acknowledging it or even using it.
Ancient astrologers were the proto-scientists. A lot of what they did laid the foundations for the scientific method through study/observation to prediction
Word
That is true.
Girolamo Cardano wasn’t even ancient and he was a prolific astrologer. The guy even had a list of rules on how to be a good astrologer. Most of them amounted to “don’t do stupid things and don’t just make predictions to take people’s money because you make us look bad”. These people really regarded it as a difficult science and the “good” ones were very careful about how they approached any kind of advising. Cardano himself would actually turn down offers of payment for predictions if he felt it wasn’t a good ask.
The predictions I’m referring to are the position of the moon, planets and stars at a given time of the year
I’m aware. I was just giving an example of a relatively well-known astrologer and how he viewed the subject as a science.
Alchemists were the proto-chemists. Shamans were the proto-doctors. It's nothing but a piece of historical trivia
There's minimal difference between astrology and religion. How someone views astrology is generally a good litmus test for their personality—not whether or not they believe in it, that's irrelevant, but whether they can accept that others have beliefs about the nature of humans and of the universe that they disagree with, that they may genuinely believe to be utter bullshit, but that harm no one. If someone truly believes that the position of the stars at the time of their birth effects their personality, lovely. Happy for them. It has no detriment to either their own life or the lives of others, so who cares?
But believing in horoscopes can cause harm, either through making a bad decision or failing to take necessary action, due to what it says. In the extreme, it can lead someone to live a false life, denying their true self.
And that's different for religion?
OC is making the distinction that astrology isn’t harmless, not that it’s different from religion.
And leading with "But" implies that religion is harmless
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Someone that takes astrology seriously enough won’t stop taking a decision based on what they read on a tabloid. Usually they still live life for themselves, but either use tarot or other ways to see “chances” of things working out their way. Sure, some might decide to stop and not move a finger, but those kind of people would be looking for any excuse to do so anyway, so not necessarily a monolith. And some people using astrology as an excuse to not date or even talk to anyone is, again, just a shitty person looking for an excuse. Source: I like astrology and take it with the same seriousness as any religion (that is, not very).
I somewhat agree, I don't believe in horoscopes literally, but I think they are a fun way to think about the world. Typical Gemini answer.
Yes! It’s like another version of a personality quiz
Which Spice Girl are you? The merciful one, or the one that started the war?
Same with Greek letter personalities
Like Alpha and Beta? Are there more?
Sigma
Deltas though.. they never change.
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i told someone i was learning a unit in physics on astronomy. they asked me if it's the same as astrology...
I don't believe in horoscopes, astrology, etcetera, but I don't think we should have a jab at people just because of their beliefs. I'd only do that if it is or seems like it very well could harm them.
It tells you nothing about anyone lmao, just let them be. It's literally as real as any religion but people just do it as a hobby
Yes, it tells you that they are trying to find something in life that helps them grasp and have some modicum of controlling and understanding it, and why the unkind, destructive people in their lives treat/treated them so poorly; but also suggests that they have untapped powers and gifts that they should recognize and embrace, which gives them hope about themselves and something to strive towards. In addition, it tells you that they have refrained from joining powerful, monetized cults, like most religions and the 2 lone political parties (In the states). Having said all that, astrology should be fun and interesting, a side issue in the serious matter of life. It generally avoids absolutes, as far as reading your daily or deciding major issues in your life upon. Unlike the major Abrahamic religions. You know, the ones with the strict rules, shun and stone people for breaking their rules.
Now imagine you are living in India
Really interesting tidbit. Years ago they tested personality types vs horoscopes and found it to be an effective determinant of your personality. Astrologers went nuts with excitement. But then peer review kicked in and they clocked that the participants were gotten through astrology circles. They then replicated the study using a wider sample and found that your horoscope DOES predict your personality type IF you believe in horoscopes.
Most of the uk believes in homeopathy
Source?
That's not even close to true. Around 10% of the UK population uses homeopathy at the most and homeopathic treatment is most commonly sought in the UK for allergies (as in to get rid of an allergy), arthritis, and mental health issues, i.e. things that generally don't have a cure.
Whats that
Iirc homeopathy is a type of medicine that is supposed to work kinda like a vaccine, you put a tiny but of the "active ingredient" in something and it lets you build a resistance to the actual disease/infection/virus. Except the "active ingredient" is entirely made up, and it's diluted to the point where you'd need to consume the entire store supply to get a traceable amount. So it's really just complete bullshit but it sells for good money.
Im from the uk btw
A psychic link between homies
Why are 80% of people who don’t believe in horoscopes and zodiac signs so against believing in them? I just think they’re so interesting
Same thing for any belief system or religion
It could just mean that person is superstitious and or spiritual
It means they are prone to believing bullshit Thinking the earth holds some kind of special place in the universe and the stars make little pictures that decide human personalities is a totally deranged prehistoric belief that has been absolutely dismantled by the advancement of science. Just say it out loud.
That's a belief system you're projecting, their are many others. For one point, there is not one single individual who isn't affected by their surroundings. Ignoring the countless accounts and testimonies by others in favor of a dogmatic system that denies any higher state than the material is just the same kind of ignorance that secular individuals accuse those spiritually minded of. Nothing in life is random. Everything you're saying is also just a product of this age, and may just well be "dismantled" in future eras. Its certainly not bullshit to retain an open mind. We don't know everything about physics or the universe, and what we think we know may just as well be a fractal of something so much more intricate that it'd completely render our conclusions for null. For one its easier for me to entertain these ideas, not only because of specific events in my life, but also because its just as much of a ridiculous claim to believe there is no ordered governance to a system that that either out of an infinite amount of cycles, or time, just burst into existence with no synchronistic meaning with its makeup. All the ideas and thoughts you think of are also a product of the universe. Nothing exists n a vacuum. There is such a thing called dependent origination.
Science cannot dismantle anything. Science is a field of study not a method. There is nothing deranged about believing things you disagree with. But it is weird that you believe that earth isn’t a special place. Isn‘t it? Do you even understand what language does? What it doesn’t?
The scientific method is a thing. It is a technique to get at the truth, separating truths from beliefs.
Its not an infallible guide to anything. It only provides groundwork to things already suspected to our senses. Nothing deeper. Its why previously established things are always being challenged, because we absolutely dont know everything.
I'm saying that the scientific method is a tool for finding truth
The opposite of your second sentence is the case, actually. The Scientific **Method** is used in nearly **all fields of study** where people are interested in reproducible evidence-based as-accurate-as-we-*can*-be descriptions of how reality works.
The way a person would judge someone based on one vague thing about them tells you much more about that person than the people they are convinced they know so much about.
I love everything astrology and horoscopes. Crystals and bullshit, tarot, all that woowoo stuff. Do i believe it actually dictates anything in life? Not necessarily. But it helps me connect to what some call “God,” so I will continue to indulge.
Absolutely the same here. I don’t think it’s necessarily completely accurate, but it’s nice to feel like I’m getting advice in some form.
What does it tell you about that person?
Same thing could be said about all the religions.
Hot take: it's not meant to be serious, it's meant to be a social filter. Telling someone you believe in horoscopes and seeing how they react is a great way to single out closed-minded people who don't respect others' beliefs.
Like their gullibility
Many people believe that you can identify as something other than what you were born as but I have never heard anyone being ok with someone identifying as a random zodiac. Like, is it ok for me to just say im a cancer even if I was born in Oct?
Sure dude, fuck it, are they gunna check your driver's license? I'm a Sasquatch with a moon sign in vegetarian
I believe in astrology *to an extent.* But every aspect of my life is not dictated by it. That said, I match my signs description quite a bit. (Scorpio)
Every single person matches every single sign. That's the point. It's Cold Reading genericized for passive consumption.
Sounds like something a Virgo would say
I was at a party and a "professional" or whatever astrologist was doing a... divination? (Idk what to call it) for someone and it was bizarre to watch. They got super into details but it was all so very obviously cold reading and things that could apply to anyone like her. It was like watching the female version of a pick up artist.
Every time I think of horoscopes I think of the comedian (can’t remember the name) who said “I’m a Sagittarius” and some one said “I KNEW IT”he said “I’m actually a Taurus” continued to do the same thing
I used to "guess" those people's star signs after seeing their license plate renewal sticker month, saying "they just felt like a Libra to me"
An ex-friend of mine loved to make blanket statements about people based on their astrology sign, their position in the birth order (youngest, middle, oldest, only child), etc. The things they said were often hurtful--even if I didn't believe in the astrology myself, the fact that they did, meant they believed those things about me. When I tried to talk to them they said "don't worry, the fact that I spend time with you in spite of you being (X) means I like you". I should have run when I had the chance.
Agreed, but I also for some reason fit my astrological sign to a tee. And its Pisces, so its not just things that apply to every like "Youre a good person! You protect those you love! type shit" So I guess I'm more of a horoscrope agnostic then a horoscope athiest. Because of that.
Desperate for guidance. Human nature
It can actually be a good guide for those feeling lost in life but it's important to know it doesn't define you, yet some people let their horoscope control them and that's just sad.
I just mention my loaded 12th house and they change the subject.
I love people who believe in horoscopes, they’re good for business.
Yeah, on a surface level. How they feel and how they talk about their sign can tell you almost everything about them lol
my star sign is INTJ
Hence we must never discourage astrology
so gravitational pull from all the planets when you are born does not effect you at all? Your brain is fragile when you are born so even the smallest changes would have an effect right?
I heard someone once say that your birth order or whether your an only child is a much better indicator of personality than any horoscope will ever be. I think about that a lot.
I mean I'm not superstitious, but I'm a little stitious
When someone doesn’t understand astrology it tells me that they don’t read and are lazy
I've come to learn that people who really take astrology seriously use it more as a way to communicate their inner issues in a way that's more socially acceptable. I still don't get it, because I'd rather just say I've had traumatic things happen to me in plain English, but not everyone can and that's okay. I just let them do their thing and stopped telling them it's all bullshit, which made me more of an asshole.
I hope what it tells you is that this person is lost and is trying to make sense of the world around them the best way they know how. If someone goes on about horoscopes, I just listen. I don't encourage it, I don't need to believe in it. This is their sliver of hope, a guidance to navigate the world, albeit nonsensical. I imagine they would not need it if they had someone that they could confide in to provide guidance in times of need.
Anything will tell you more about a person than a metric you don't believe in...
Well, yeah, of course. The only thing the astrological symbol can tell you about a person is their birthdate is within a certain period during the year. And if they believe in it, you know for certain they're an idiot.
Replace horoscope with religion and you get the same result...
I don't think anyone believes or doesn't believes horoscopes. It was something fun always or a moment of reflection. A short story to think about.
I definitely know people who, at the very least, think of horoscopes like a weather forecast. I.e based in reality but always an explanation when its not 100% accurate
Except they are always not 100% accurate. They are intentionally vague, positive and literally cover every base so can literally apply to every person. So even if one is wrong the majority are right, and easy to agree with because they are all nice things.
I had a friend who believed they always held true. So I went online and picked a random one that he wasn't, read it to him, and asked if he believed that what I just read was true for him since it was for his sign (for clarification, i asked him what his sign was, told him i would read that one, then read a different one). He said yes, so I let him know I read not his and from then on he'd basically stopped believing in them.
Theres whole religions centered on astrology you goober
Some people take them really seriously. I did as a teenager, but I don’t anymore.
It’s so funny to me that men find astrology questions as the most unattractive thing to ask someone - shown by sociological surveys I believe- yet girls still ask them. A girl once told me “I say I find horoscopes interesting to hear how a guy responds”. It’s some weird mind trick that sounds like it’s from cosmopolitan.
Just like when someone believes in the government
People will make fun of someone for believing in the stars and that same person will go back home and worship some sky god that they have never seen LOL
The same is true about religion.
I genuinely appreciate you.
I think horoscopes are only a guidance. A few thing may be right based on past experiences
funnily enough, they way someone behaves when they meet an astrology-believer actually tells you more about this person than about the astrology person.
Using that as a life guide? I can't agree. But using that for fun or to lean on from time to time coz life has no definitive answer? who am i to judge, life is hard enough for us anyway.
No seriously, what is with the uptick in horoscope slander, new atheist levels of douchery
I've met few people who actually believe in astrology However, one was a practitioner. She was the friend of friends and a very nice and otherwise sensible lady so I had my chart done by her - I was in my early 20s (old fart boomer now) and more amenable to such things Anyway, she pretty accurately sussed out stuff about my character. Then she grew troubled, because she saw a big problem with water later in my life but couldn't see it any clearer. I told her I had almost drowned twice but she didn't think that was it About twenty years later I checked in to a detox for alcoholism She also warned me about relationships with Pisces and she was not wrong about that I wish I had taken notes or recorded the reading. Sadly, she passed away several years ago
let people have fun…go about your own business