Astrology is a funny thing. After having put up with decades of scientific probing, it has retreated to the one area that shields it from a rational critique: mysticism. It may surprise us to learn that in an age of genetic sequencing and powerful telescopes, a system of divination conjured up in the Levant thousands of years ago is still alive and well. In the midst of our pandemic, astrologers are. Whether or not that鈥檚 true, it certainly is useful, and that鈥檚 also the stance of many modern users of astrology. They claim not to care if it鈥檚 scientific or not, and many even say they don鈥檛 believe in it. They just find it useful.
It is a complicated universe to wrap your head around, this astrology. I know I鈥檝e only caught a glimpse of it in my research. Astrology rests on a simple foundation: as above, so below. The position of various celestial bodies (planets, moons, asteroids) at the time of our birth reflects deep truths about who we are and what will happen to us, astrologers claim. Some believe these heavenly bodies directly cause events on Earth through some unknown mechanism; many more, especially in our modern age, reject this idea and rather see the sky as a mirror. By learning the language of astrology, they say, we can see a reflection of who we are and what our future might be.
Before we move on to the sort of irrefutable 鈥渟ecular theology鈥� that astrology has become, it鈥檚 important to shine a light on the scientific wringer it has been put through since the 1950s. Indeed, a slew of studies looking at specific event predictions, Zodiac sign compatibilities and their professional inclinations, and astrologers鈥� abilities to match astrological profiles to individuals have resulted in devastating results for the profession鈥檚 credibility. (A partial summary can be found in and.) And if the heavenly spheres cause things on Earth, as early proponents of astrology claimed, none of the known forces could explain this effect due to the distances involved.
Honest scientists facing a towering pile of evidence against their theory would, after getting over their bruised egos, work to improve it, study it further, and perhaps come to replace it with a better one. But astrologists have dealt with this evidence by ignoring or rejecting it. They have resorted to hand-waving: they do not yet know what this all means, but astrology works and one day we will figure it all out. Their response to encapsulates their close-mindedness to course corrections. The researchers designed their study with the full collaboration of the Indiana Federation of Astrologers. In fact, the lead researcher鈥檚 birth chart, which indicates where each celestial body was in the sky at the time of his birth, was inspected by the Federation to make sure he was an upstanding guy.
The study was simple: six astrologers were given 23 birth charts and had to match them to 23 people, for whom they had photos and answers to a long questionnaire the Federation had itself generated. The result? Each astrologer made from zero to three correct matches (the average was one). When presented with this verdict, the Federation twisted itself into a pretzel to provide an explanation, ultimately claiming that 鈥渁strology may not always give quantifiable results but it works nonetheless.鈥�
This lack of concern on the part of astrologers had already led philosopher of science Paul Thagard to. It wasn鈥檛 because its origins were unscientific: chemistry, after all, was born of alchemy. It wasn鈥檛 from its lack of mechanism: continental drift was true even before plate tectonics was discovered as an explanation. It was that its community had more or less refused to face the music. It had made less progress than alternative theories, like psychology, over a long period of time. It may have started out as a protoscience (a 鈥渟cience in the making鈥�), but it became an unpromising project before finally deserving the label of pseudoscience.
But for many modern fans of astrology, all of this is a misguided discussion. Astrology has no scientific pretension, they say. It is a tool for introspection. There too, however, there are problems.
Magic mirror in the sky, who is the fairest one of all?
I had my birth chart done for free via a popular astrology app (I know, I know: it鈥檚 not the same as seeing an astrologer). Some of the passages were dead-on; others were laughably inappropriate; and there were many contradictions within this nearly 5,000-word essay. I was at once an extreme traditionalist and a rebellious force of nature, a witty intellectual with a serious personality and an intuitive psychic with great belief in the unproven.
These sorts of general pronouncements full of escape clauses are known as after P.T. Barnum, the founder of the Barnum & Bailey Circus famous for allegedly saying 鈥渢here鈥檚 a sucker born every minute.鈥� And boy do they work, these Barnum statements! I have more than once given the same fake astrological personality description to high school students who believed they were receiving a horoscope tied to their Zodiac sign, and almost all of them raised their hand when I asked them if they saw themselves in the text. And it was pandemonium when I told them to check out their neighbours鈥� horoscopes and they realized they had all received the same text.
I do understand the appeal of modern-day astrology. By focusing on self-reflection, it has attached itself to the ever popular self-help movement. It provides the social beings that make up its fandom with a sense of community and it can feel empowering for minorities who have been oppressed by long-standing institutions. In fact, there is evidence that people drawn to astrology are. The need for spirituality and meaning can easily be filled by an esoteric, decentralized system like astrology. And before we dismiss all of its devotees as scientifically illiterate, surveys show that astrology鈥檚 biggest draw is for. Indeed, astrology has the trappings of science: it makes predictions, relies on calculations, and deals in systems and structures.
Even can start to warm up to it when it produces. This appeal for the pseudoscience is reinforced by our brain鈥檚 deep wiring for seeing patterns and agents even where there are none. In times of great stress, the predictions of astrology can give the illusion of control. Not knowing what the future holds can be untenable for some. Even when astrology predicts bad outcomes, it鈥檚 something concrete on which to hang your hat.
There are, however, less fanciful ways of dealing with uncertainty. Professor Kate Sweeny from the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside, and made two recommendations to me via email. 鈥淲e鈥檝e found evidence,鈥� she tells me, 鈥渇or the effectiveness of mindfulness practice in coping with uncertainty.鈥� Meditating or engaging in an activity like gardening that forces us to focus on the present moment can alleviate the stress that comes from thinking about the future. Likewise, being 鈥渋n the zone鈥� can be beneficial, with an activity that is pleasurable, challenging enough and that tracks our progress toward a goal. 鈥淰ideo games are custom-made to create this experience.鈥� As for the illusion of control that comes from astrological reading, it can be relatively harmless but not always. 鈥淚f you turn down a great opportunity because of something your horoscope said that day, or if you pursue a risky opportunity because of that, it may steer your life in a non-optimal direction.鈥� I can unfortunately imagine someone postponing a life-saving surgery because the stars yield an ominous reading.
If we are to resist the pull that magical thinking has on us, we need to reconcile ourselves with 鈥渘ot knowing,鈥� an important lesson in science which some of us are perhaps better equipped to take on board. Saying 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know what will happen and that鈥檚 OK鈥� is grounding. It thwarts flights of fancy. Of course, believers in astrology may not see 鈥渁s above, so below鈥� as an extravagant view. Carl Sagan was famous for having popularized the saying that extraordinary claims demand extraordinary evidence. The problem arises when a pseudoscience, poked and prodded by scientific fingers, retreats to the wishy-washy world of unknowable mysticism. In that universe, where planets have been imbued with an innate mythology by some strange divine force, there are no extraordinary claims. Anything is possible.
Take-home message:
-聽Astrology is a pseudoscience due to its lack of progress and refusal to deal with a large body of critical scientific studies
- Many modern fans of astrology do not see it as a science but as a tool for introspection, in large part because its predictions can give them an illusion of control in a time of stress
- There are more grounded ways of dealing with uncertainty, like mindfulness practice and engaging in activities that put you 鈥渋n the zone鈥�
