Not quite written in the stars
Astrology is a delusion that leads us to believe that position of heavenly bodies affects our livesNissim Raj Angdembay
Sep 21, 2016- The stars that adorn the night sky like a diamond-studded veil shine down upon us with a planet occasionally among its ranks; the Moon never fails to renew itself every month, which had been the basis for timekeeping since antiquity. For the ancient stargazer, this must have been staggering; planets retrograding randomly, stars slowly drifting away, the Moon going from darkness to light must have been the work of a divine being. For a very long time, we believed that the Sun goes around the Earth. We all know how the Roman Catholic Church persecuted Galileo for going against their doctrine.
Of course, modern tools and understanding have solved these mysteries; they were nothing more than an illusion of perspective. The stars are millions of kilometres away; it takes months with the best technology to reach the nearest planet, Venus. Yet, somehow, these stars and planets are supposed to influence the way we behave. The random heavenly alignments that occur on the sheer accident of our birth is actually somehow supposed to determine our fates. Events are foretold, but with what accuracy? Can astrology really predict our actions and their likely consequences?
Predicting the future
Astrology is the delusion that attempts to determine traits, future events or other ‘unknown’ information by studying the position of heavenly bodies. However, astrology as of understanding is vague pseudo science with an unfound rationale. Is there such thing as fate? Unfortunately, many people in Nepal still believe in astrology and other pseudo sciences like palmistry (studying palms to tell the future) and physiognomy (accessing a person’s personality from their outer appearance). We can see people making cheena (astrological scrolls) for their newborn ones that supposedly describes their future. The occasional jyotish (astrologer) comes around the neighbourhood, telling people seemingly their futures by reading their palms (for a fee, of course). This enthrals people, I mean, who doesn’t want to know their future? However, we must remind ourselves that such predictions are baseless. How do big spheres of rocks, liquids, gases, nuclear matter, among others, millions of kilometres away influence events, morals and situations on a specific planet’s carbon-based inhabitants? How can random creases formed in our palms reflect our characteristics?
The most common argument that seemingly supports astrology as a legitimate practice is that predictions made often come true. This is a fallacy; it cherry-picks data and ignores the outliers that do not conform to the prediction made. It is unsurprising that false predictions are so common because alignments of the stars or the planets simply cannot tell you what will happen! One time, my relative was told by an astrologer to buy a certain expensive lump of crystal to worship, as it calms the non-existent spirits. Even I was once told by an astrologer to offer black sesame seeds to deities to calm down Jupiter or Mars because they have been influencing me. Apparently, the spiral on one’s head tells if they will be monogamous or polygamous.
Wikipedia lists more than sixty predicted dates that were supposed to be the end of the world, fortunately all have been unfounded. For astrology to become legitimate through the current scientific rationale, it has to first be testable. The second is that, strong empirical evidence must support the claims of astrology. Astrology fails to pass these two criteria. Evidence is not the plural of anecdote. Any prediction that seemly has become true is nothing more than a bizarre coincidence.
The predictions made by astrology itself are quite vague and hence, could be interpreted to mean anything (preferably to suit one’s taste). To illustrate this fact, let’s take a quote from the famous 16th century astrologer Nostradamus, “From the human flock nine will be sent away, Separated from judgment and counsel: Their fate will be sealed on departure Kappa, Thita, Lambda the banished dead.” This was famously correlated with The Coloumbia explosion disaster in the US. However, does this prediction have any merit? Primarily, they could have been sent anywhere; the prediction does not specify where and when and as such, is a vague statement and useless. The disaster occurred due to technical difficulties which did not arise from the ‘banished err’. The fact that the predicted death toll is 22 percent off the actual casualty count does not help with the accuracy of the prediction. Seven people died, not nine. This prediction could also be correlated with other unfortunate events such as a bus accident but that would not have gathered much interest.
Demisting the fog
The most common explanation for the persistent belief of people in Astrology is thought to arise from an observation called the Barnum effect. This observation is the tendency for individuals to believe in descriptions given as being highly accurate, while in reality they are sufficiently vague enough to be applied in many situations. This can be generalised as a subjective validation, where two unrelated or random events seem to have a connection because of an expectation or a hypothesis.
Astrology also fails to make accurate predictions in controlled laboratory conditions. The James Randi Educational Foundation (JREF) offers anyone one million dollars if they are able to successfully demonstrate supernormal activity (like astrology) under controlled conditions. For obvious reasons, the prize remains unclaimed. Another test that astrologers are unable to pass is the shuffling test; horoscope predictions are jumbled and the astrologers are then asked to match them with their respective zodiac signs. Astrologers were about as successful as non-astrologers or random chance.
Unfortunately, this mass delusion has worked its way up into our lives. Horoscopes and zodiac signs that are splashed across any major daily seemingly predicts our futures. Yet, have we ever rationally thought how twelve predictions are supposed to match up with 7.5 billion people around the world? Are our fates sealed and embossed in stone the moment we are born? Astrology is a mass delusion with no merit within it. It is only up to us to accept its irrationality and understand we are the controllers of our own lives and futures.
Angdembay is a recent A-level graduate
Published: 21-09-2016 09:45
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