What Sign ?

[jambo372]

What is your sun sign ?
Please also say whether you are sceptical, believing or unsure regarding paranormal areas and what sign you voted for.

[Jeff Corey]

On Planet X, we don't got no steenkin' signs.

[rppa]

Is "sun sign" just the standard horoscope zodiac sign thing?

[jambo372]

Yes

[Dragonrock]

So, why is aquarius an air sign?

[steenkh]

Originally posted by Jeff Corey
On Planet X, we don't got no steenkin' signs.
You rang? :p

[Mercutio]

Originally posted by Dragonrock
So, why is aquarius an air sign? Well, duh, the desert scorpion already took the water sign...

[phildonnia]

Do you mean the sign the sun was in when I was born, or the sign from the standard astrological charts, based on my birthday?

[Correa Neto]

Oh my...

Will Jambo use this as a statistical survey to show that skeptics are preferentially of a given sign (or group of)?

Thus proving that astrology is not the sheer ammount of BS we all know (or are supposed to know) it is?

Aries, BTW.

[Lisa Simpson]

My sign is Neon.

[Wolrab]

Mine wasn't listed, Ophiuchus, the sepent holder. My birthday is Nov. 2. I feel sooooo disappointed.:(

[jambo372]

I'm not referring to personally detailed birthcharts designed specifically for the person concerned.

I'm just talking about the generalised thing running from the 22nd of the month to the 23rd of the next or whatever.

[Dragonrock]

I'm a "Darrian Tom" but I don't see that on your zodiacal list.

[Nex]

Originally posted by jambo372
I'm just talking about the generalised thing running from the 22nd of the month to the 23rd of the next or whatever.
That's called "sun sign" jambo. ;)

I'll play along. :D

My sun sign is Scorpio, and my rising sign is Cancer.

[Yahweh]

Scorpio and skeptical of the paranormal.

[rightbrain]

Originally posted by jambo372
What is your sun sign ?
Please also say whether you are sceptical, believing or unsure regarding paranormal areas and what sign you voted for.

Gemini...both of me.

Mostly skeptical.

[jambo372]

No sceptics of my sign I see.

[phildonnia]

Originally posted by jambo372
I'm just talking about the generalised thing running from the 22nd of the month to the 23rd of the next or whatever.

Aquarius, then. Year of the Pig.

[thatguywhojuggles]

Stop, sometimes Yield... though lately I've been more about Slow Children Playing

[crimresearch]

Fish? Crabs? Guys hugging?

What sort of crap is this?

Everyone with a lick of sense knows that the birth signs are Dragon, Dog, Pig, Monkey, Tiger, Rooster, Snake, and so forth.
;)

[jambo372]

Only in China.

[Lisa Simpson]

Why only in China?

[SezMe]

I'm a video - didn't see that listed.

[jambo372]

Because he mentioned the chinese zodiac system.

[Lisa Simpson]

But why are dragon, pig, rooster, etc. only valid in China? They aren't valid in the rest of the world?

[crimresearch]

They are valid anyplace which has Chinese restaurants.

[jambo372]

Buddha invited animals to a party before leaving the world.
Only these 12 arrived.
To award them he named years after them in the order they arrived in.

[Ratman_tf]

My Aztec sign is the Rabbit.

*Hop hop hop*

[Soapy Sam]

Can I be a Potto?

I like Pottos.

Or it may be volvos. My mind is going.

Jambo- I imagine you'll be Cancer?

[phildonnia]

Originally posted by jambo372
Buddha invited animals to a party before leaving the world.
Only these 12 arrived.
To award them he named years after them in the order they arrived in.

That's just a myth. In real life, it was the Jade Emperor.

[H3LL]

Hmmm! Astrology? Astrologers?

I have a perfect sign for them:

The Bird.

The answer I like to give when asked, but it's not in the poll.

Shame.....

[crimresearch]

Originally posted by jambo372
Buddha invited animals to a party before leaving the world.
Only these 12 arrived.
To award them he named years after them in the order they arrived in.

And exactly how does that limit this version of the zodiac to China?

[HerNibs]

Taurus here.

Earth? What does that mean? I don't know much about this stuff, always thought it was silly.

Is there a point to this or some one just being curious?

[Soapy Sam]

It's just jambo. He's broken his new Xbox , there's repeats on the telly and there was too much brandy on the Christmas pudding. He goes kinda weird for a week either side of the Solstice.

And profoundly strange thereafter.

[rppa]

Originally posted by Correa Neto
Will Jambo use this as a statistical survey to show that skeptics are preferentially of a given sign (or group of)?

Thus proving that astrology is not the sheer ammount of BS we all know (or are supposed to know) it is?

Of course.

Like right now with 18 votes in, there are peaks at Pisces and Scorpio. Both are water signs. This proves that the water washes out belief in astrology, while fire, um, burns it in, yeah (Sagittarius and Leo have 0 votes).

But wait, Cancer is also a water sign and it's not a peak. Yeah, but it has 2 votes and if everything was perfectly random, then every sign would have 18/12 = 1.5 votes. So obviously it's a *small* peak. Oh, but Aries is a fire sign and it's got 2 votes. Um, see, that's just what you'd expect because Aries, being a crab is also associated with water and that partially cancels out the... what?... Aries isn't the crab? The twins then, because... eh? Oh. Yes, this is just what you'd expect, because Aries, being a ram, is associated with...

BTW, Scorpio and sceptic. Skeptic, even.

[Correa Neto]

Originally posted by rppa
..snip...Yes, this is just what you'd expect, because Aries, being a ram, is associated with...

...snip...

Uh... Ramming?:p

[phildonnia]

Trick question:

What dates is the sun actually in Scorpio?

Never, there is no constellation with that name.
:D

[Zep]

According to the back of today's newspaper, I'm Sagittarius. Otherwise, Calathumpius.

However the Bad Astronomer can probably inform us of the precession of the stars over the last few thousand years, such that the current star signs are completely different from the ancient star signs. Also, there used to be a 13th star sign at one time, but I guess it predicted itself out of existence...and won!

http://www.tokenasians.com/archives/news/nothingsign.jpg

[LucyR]

I don't understand any of this.

I was brought up to believe these things were called "star signs" and yet that term does not seem to have been used by anyone in this thread until now.

[Zep]

Originally posted by LucyR
I don't understand any of this.

I was brought up to believe these things were called "star signs" and yet that term does not seem to have been used by anyone in this thread until now. Chances are Jambo doesn't know or understand the diff either. STAR-signs, SUN-signs, MOON-signs, EN-signs, call them what you like, it's all dribble anyway.

[LucyR]

Well I looked up characteristics for "Scorpio" (my star sign):

"Scorpios have very complicated personality. They are clever, non-compromising, calculating, and self protective. Money is very important for them. Sometimes they have "a sixth sense": they can feel things by intuition that other people cannot. They are very loyal and protective towards friends and loved ones. They can change radically according to the situation. Scorpios could say something and have in mind exactly the opposite. They are good actors. They can "poison" other people at any time - a harm that may last for long time. They would do anything to accomplish their goals. In relationships, they could be dangerously jealous. They are also passionate and caring. Scorpio is ruled by Mars. Scorpios are good teachers, actors, businessmen, accountants and sociologists. " - some web page I found on Google.

I'd go along with most of that. The last line does not bode particularly well since my chosen profession is none of those.

Celebrities are apparently:

"Whoopi Goldberg, Georgia O'Keefe, Maradona, Bill Gates, Billy Graham, Bonnie Raitt, Calista Flockhart, Charles Manson, Dan Rather, Demi Moore, George Eliot, Hillary Rodham Clinton, Jane Pauley, Jodie Foster, Jonas Salk, KD Lang, Larry Flynt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Marie Curie, Martin Luther, Pablo Picasso, Pablo Picasso, Price Charles, Richard Burton, Roseanne, Ted Turner, Theodore Roosevelt." - ibid.

What a bunch of losers! (Flynt's ok I guess).

Picasso gets a double mention. Wonder why.

"Price Charles"?

[El Greco]

I was born the same day as Albert Einstein. Not the same year though, which is probably why I'm somewhat more clever.

[Pixel42]

The answer I usually give - Scoffa the Sceptic - isn't listed, so I admitted to being a Leo.

There was a short piece in The Guardian (http://www.guardian.co.uk/life/farout/story/0,,1353249,00.html) a couple of weeks ago about Gauquelin. I didn't know the poor man eventually committed suicide. I've always like this story in particular:

In another experiment he asked an astrologer to cast a horoscope for a birth date he claimed to be his own. The reading was extremely flattering: "He is a Virgo, instinctive warmth is allied with intellect and wit ... He is endowed with a moral sense which is comforting - that of a worthy, right-thinking citizen ... [whose] life finds expression in total devotion to others ..." The birth date supplied was actually that of Marcel Petiot, a French doctor who had robbed and killed 27 people as they sought shelter from the Nazis.

He then sent this horoscope, with a questionnaire, to 150 respondents to a newspaper advertisement offering free astrological readings - 94% of respondents declared themselves satisfied with his assessment of their personalities.

[Zep]

Originally posted by El Greco
I was born the same day as Albert Einstein. Not the same year though, which is probably why I'm somewhat more clever. I was born the year Einstein died. Lesser minds have been convinced I was him in his last life. Normal minds just laughed.

[Correa Neto]

So, I was born the same month and day (but not year, I´m not that old) that a certain Adolf Hitler was.

Does that makes me a potential Hitler?
Are all persons born in this day potential Hitlers?
All persons who were born in the same day, month and year were potential Hitlers? All persons who were born in the same day, month, year and place were potential Hitlers?

So much for astrology´s claims.

I won this debate:p

[Ashles]

Yay! A chance to do my astrology gag...


I'm sceptical of all this astrology rubbish.


But then that's typical of us Aquarians.



Thank you, thank you, you're too kind.

[shanek]

"Eat at Joe's."

[Bearguin]

Well I looked up characteristics for "Aries" (my star sign):

"Aries have very complicated personality. They are clever, non-compromising, calculating, and self protective. Money is very important for them. Sometimes they have "a sixth sense": they can feel things by intuition that other people cannot. They are very loyal and protective towards friends and loved ones. They can change radically according to the situation. Aries could say something and have in mind exactly the opposite. They are good actors. They can "poison" other people at any time - a harm that may last for long time. They would do anything to accomplish their goals. In relationships, they could be dangerously jealous. They are also passionate and caring. Aries is ruled by Mars. Aries are good teachers, actors, businessmen, accountants and sociologists. "

I'd go along with most of that. The last line does bode particularly well since my chosen profession is one of those.




Yup. Too lazy to actually look it up but I bet as much of that drivel applies to me as it does to LucyR (more even as I am an accountant).

[IXP]

At the risk of going off on a tangent, I personally prefer cosines.

[phildonnia]

Originally posted by IXP
At the risk of going off on a tangent, I personally prefer cosines.

Excellent! I need a loan, and the bank said I had to get a a "cosine". Maybe you can help.

After all, I am typical of my sun-sign in that:
"Aquarians have very complicated personality... Money is very important for them. "

[Kopji]

We were discussing this for fun on another forum a long time ago, and my birth date and time came up with a dire warning that an occultation of the plant Pluto predicted that I would be misunderstood all my life and people would try to kill me. "perfect"

[rppa]

Originally posted by Kopji
We were discussing this for fun on another forum a long time ago, and my birth date and time came up with a dire warning that an occultation of the plant Pluto predicted that I would be misunderstood all my life and people would try to kill me. "perfect"

What happened to people who were occulted by Pluto before astrologers (or anyone else) knew there was such a thing as Pluto?

How can something so teeny and far away "occult" anything?

[JMA]

Originally posted by jambo372
What is your sun sign ?
Please also say whether you are sceptical, believing or unsure regarding paranormal areas and what sign you voted for.

Skeptic. Scorpio.

This is so much fun... :D

[John de Combe]

I'm Capricorn.

In fact, astrology (along with my wife's preponderance to waste money on quack medical products) is one of the main reasons I'm here.

My first girlfriend used to read Linda Goodman's books religiously, and bought them for me too. I read them a lot, and for years I really believed there was something in astrology. I thought it was genuinely a science, and explained human nature. Seemed to provide the answers that I was looking for that had been utterly lacking for me in religion.

I learned the traits of all the signs, and so on and started to make guesses about which people were which sign. These were nearly always wrong, but I would just say "well, your ascendant is probably...." as I sincerely believed that and people would be amazed.

However, even though I knew nothing at all about astrology, people started to ask me questions about it - if I had wanted to I could have made a small fortune as an astrologer in my local area. Fortunately I didn't feel qualified to do so and never accepted a penny from anyone - I'd feel terrible now if I had done so.

I realised, that knowing almost nothing, and guessing blindly, people thought I could really tell their future and disect their characters. This disturbed me - it struck me as wrong. Surely you have to study for years to do that?

After reading sites like www.cainer.com for too long I also realised that he said - well, precisely nothing. He is incredibly vague, as are all astrologers.

I found that the other forecasts really did apply to me just as much as my own. Also, things like links to Uri Gellar on Cainer's site didn't help me either.

Plus the fact I was discriminating somewhat against people because of the supposed traits of their signs - "Scorpio - sex maniacs, and better watch that temper" "Taurus - don't argue with them, they are too stubborn", etc. And I became so certain of people's personality and motivations from knowing nothing more than their birthday - this was bats.

Slowly it was dawned on me that I'd been really, really dumb. I first found the Skeptics Annotated Bible, and from there JREF.

It took me ten years to shake off astrology, and now I'm back where I'm happy as an agnostic.

I do believe that most astrologers are deluded rather than fraudsters - it's something that becomes very easy to believe in. They are also very nice people - I'm sure Jonathan Cainer is a lovely, genuine bloke who would be great company.

However, I believe that what they do is wrong, and it is not harmless.

It also strikes me that there are many, many things that astrologers say that epidemiologists could check out - and disprove easily.

"Cancer women have significantly bigger or smaller than average breasts."

"Scorpio have far higher than average illnesses of the reproductive organs."

"Aries are far more likely than average to have head injuries."

"Pisces are significantly more likely to be nurses"

"Capricorns always love the good old days best..."

and so on.

You could even see in a blind test which forecasts people feel apply to them.

[Ashles]

Interesting story John and similar to some other people's experiences round here I suspect.

A little while ago we had an amateur astrologer on the boards who had a go at some readings

Here is the fun thread (http://forums.randi.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=45011&highlight=astrological)

To be fair to Marrena she wasn't entirely convinced that astrology worked herself, but she was doing it as properly as she could so her own semi-scepticism should not have affected anything as she really wanted to see whether it worked.
It didn't.

[Blondin]

I'm a pyrex.











I was a test-tube baby...

[Ashles]

C'mon,

Sceptic... typical of Aquarians...

It's funny!

[Pixel42]

I believe it was Arthur C Clarke who first used Ashles' "joke". Asked if he believed in astrology he said "No, but then I'm a Sagiterrean and we're very sceptical".

Even better is the story about Nils Bohr. A journalist who was interviewing him in his home noticed a horse shoe above his door as he was leaving. "But surely you don't believe that will bring you luck?", asked the journalist. "No of course I don't believe it", replied the great physicist, "But I'm told that it works whether you believe it or not". :)

[Zep]

Originally posted by Ashles
C'mon,

Sceptic... typical of Aquarians...

It's funny! ::rimshot::

Will you be here 'till Thursday, by any chance?

[phildonnia]

Originally posted by Ashles
C'mon,

Sceptic... typical of Aquarians...

It's funny!

Haven't heard that one before. Here of all places.

Incidentally, Thomas the Apostle is the patron saint of skeptics, but only if you believe in that crap.