Astrology doesn't work

[rustypouch]

I know the title is obvious, but there is an article about it here. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=%2Fnews%2F2003%2F08%2F17%2Fnstars17 .xml&secureRefresh=true&_requestid=84971)
(may require registration, I'm sorry.)

Good news for rational, level-headed Virgoans everywhere: just as you might have predicted, scientists have found astrology to be rubbish.

For several decades, researchers tracked more than 2,000 people - most of them born within minutes of each other. According to astrology, the subject should have had very similar traits.

Researchers looked at more than 100 different characteristics, including occupation, anxiety levels, marital status, aggressiveness, sociability, IQ levels and ability in art, sport, mathematics and reading - all of which astrologers claim can be gauged from birth charts.

The scientists failed to find any evidence of similarities between the "time twins", however. They reported in the current issue of the Journal of Consciousness Studies: "The test conditions could hardly have been more conducive to success . . . but the results are uniformly negative."

"It has no acceptable mechanism, its principles are invalid and it has failed hundreds of tests," he said. "But no hint of these problems will be found in astrology books which, in effect, are exercises in deception."

But I predict this will have no effect on the believers, and await the reward.

[CFLarsen]

Originally posted by rustypouch
But I predict this will have no effect on the believers, and await the reward.

You are psychic!

"Yes, yawn, yawn! If there are anoyone who wants to read what these two (Dean & Kelly) deranged individuals have to say, please do so. Personally, I have better things to do."
Karen Boesen, Business Astrologer, known liar and refuser of taking the JREF Challenge

Karen has also gained notoriety for this one:

"I say/write what I feel like, and I never argue for any of it!"

I kid you not.

[Kerberos]

What? Astrology doesn't work? I'm shocked to my very core! This isn't some sort of joke is it?

[MRC_Hans]

Astrologers will of course point out that they were not born in the same place. Claus, KB is not presently participating on any internet forums is she?

Hans

[CFLarsen]

Originally posted by MRC_Hans
Astrologers will of course point out that they were not born in the same place. Claus, KB is not presently participating on any internet forums is she?

Hans

Oh, yeah, baby....exhibiting her kind and gentle mannerisms....

Karen's Capers (http://www.astrologforeningen.dk/cgi/discus/board-newmessages.cgi?method=last&number=7&units=1440&tree=ON&where=all) (Danish only, sad to say. It's better than The Jerry Springer Show)

Full threads available, of course.

[MRC_Hans]

Ahh, drool. Excuse me for a few days while I indulge in this, heheh.

Hans:wink8:

[reprise]

Bwahahaha. rustypouch started this same thread over at Ghostvillage, so now the OP is going to have to be defended against the usual responses.

[T'ai Chi]

Rusty, I think you are preaching to the already converted here.

[CFLarsen]

Originally posted by T'ai Chi
Rusty, I think you are preaching to the already converted here.

Far from it. We do get quite a number of people who are generally interested in evaluating the facts.

[Flo]

Originally posted by MRC_Hans
Astrologers will of course point out that they were not born in the same place.

Hans


Bingo ! :D

And how about this (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,3604,1021328,00.html):

Horoscopes under the microscope

astrology and statistics have clashed many times before. Usually, astrology has come off worse - though not always.
[snip]
The most famous research, by French psychologist Michel Gauquelin in 1976, which used the birth data of some 30,000 people, revealed a strong correlation between professions and the positions of planets in horoscopes. Gauquelin, who was sceptical of astrology's claims, then found himself under attack from a scientific lynch mob, the Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal, which sought to discredit his researches. However, the only way they could do so was by fudging the statistics. One committee member, physicist Dennis Rawlins, stalked off, denouncing CSICOP as "would-be debunkers who bungled their investigation, falsified results, and covered up their errors".

[MRC_Hans]

What they are talking about is the famous "Mars connection". There seemed to be a significant correlation between being a successful member of society and having Mars in the ascendant (or something). I saw a partial debunking of it somewhere.

Hans

[Prester John]

There was an "article" in one of the tabloids (the Star i think) about this, penned by the resident astrologer. It decryed this information as old and flawed scientifically. Almost a whole page rebuttal, i think the astrologer was quite upset!!

[MRC_Hans]

Ahh, here (http://www.skepdic.com/mars.html) was the debunking I was looking for.

Hans

[Flo]

Originally posted by MRC_Hans
Ahh, here (http://www.skepdic.com/mars.html) was the debunking I was looking for.

Hans

Thanks, Hans. :)

[BNiles]

Have the Astrological charts ever been updated to account for precession? If not, everyone's birth signs are off by at least one, and therefore the horoscopes are absolutely bogus. (Like I didn’t already know that) :D