Astrology

[opalsnow]

I have tried this topic on some other INTP lists before and got absolute outrage. So I'm going to try it again here. Are there any INTP in this community who thinks that it might be possible to explain astrology scientifically? 

Comments

The scientific explanation for astrology

[montecristo]

Human brains are wired to sometimes accept outrageous superstitious fantasies as rational.

Best explanation I can come up with.

Re: The scientific explanation for astrology

[opalsnow]

Actually you are dead-on! The human brain does indeed make up a lot of excuses (as shown by patients with certain lesions to specific areas of their brain) to maintain its so-called 'worldview'. This should not be disrupted or a human will feel disconnected from themselves and can result in depression or plain insanity if left unresolved.

But that wasn't the kind of explanation I was looking for.

[opalsnow]

Depending on how old the 'kids' are, their brain may be merely immature enough to process information from their parents or to differentiate between reality and fantasy.

Not sure about making humans generally trust each other though.

Although recent investigations into the rationality of humans as infallible has been greatly disproved. Apparently, humans are not rational as they like to think they are.

[opalsnow]

Well, being raised in different parts of the world does not mean astrology cannot apply to you. A true astrology reading would take into account the longitude and latitude of where you were born and where you are right now and compare the planetary positions to make a prediction.

[opalsnow]

Not unless they were born on the same time as you.

[opalsnow]

That planetary movements and positions might actually have an effect on human's cognitions, emotions and possibly wider world phenomenon such as which economic/governmental systems will prevail from which century to which, etc.

[opalsnow]

Oh... i see. Well, I'm not too aware of astrologers admitting that their practice is merely "metaphorical". If that's true, then it must be merely humans' need to make sense of the world they live in and nothing more.

[eryndil]

Nope. I was quite into astrology as a teenager but I grew out of it. It was fun making the charts!

[opalsnow]

I see... so you don't think it's possible. But were the predictions accurate for you?

I enjoyed drawing out the charts too! Thought nowadays it's much easier with online free charts.

[eryndil]

I found most of the predictions so ambiguous that they could fit most people's lives. Mind you, some people say the same about MBTI!

On the other hand, I am a Christian so my scepticism obviously has its limits. But of course that's a whole different subject...and often a contentious one on these comms!

[opalsnow]

Yeah, you're right on that. About the predictions being ambiguous and MBTI being similar. That's what made me branch off into more traditional astrology, especially horary.

Yes, a lot of INTPs have equated beliefs in Christianity as the same sort of faith people place in astrology.

[redver]

I've no idea. The possibility is there, if any of it is actually genuinely accurate anyway, and not a load of Barnum Statements