A few of my favorite people believe in astrology, and I roll my eyes when they talk about it, but I do the same thing when my Christian mother and sister talk about Jesus. I don’t put any kind of credence in either, but I respect their beliefs enough not to challenge them.
I find there is nothing so powerful as to prove confirmation bias as when my electronics are not speaking to each other, my loopy cousin will point out that Mercury is in retrograde. Not only does astrology not exist, but “retrograde” does not exist except as a matter of perspective. But damned if my loopy cousin hasn’t convinced me that confirmation bias is proven.
Belief schmelief.
If you want Mercury in retrograde to affect your life, then Mercury in retrograde will affect your life. For real.
Therefore, astrology is true.
vomits
And after reading shit like this more times than I could count on dating sites and personal messages, people still wonder why I’m a misogynistic bastard.
One of my best friends believes this. She is seriously one of the most intelligent people I know, smarter than my good self even.* I am completely baffled as to why she would believe in this nonsense. But the answer to the OP’s question would be “no”, because intelligence isn’t “evenly spread” throughout someone’s personality, so to speak. People can be very smart in one way and silly in another. Then some people also have psychological needs to believe certain things, and sometimes those needs can be understandable. So we can’t dismiss someone’s entire intellectual capacity just because of one irrational belief.
*Yeah, I know, wow…
Nope. They believe in woo - big deal. If they keep banging on about it in everyday conversation, it’s not going to be any more tiresome than people banging on about The X Factor or what their ex is up to according to Facebook. I waste time on stuff just as fatuous.
But then, I get drawn into conversations like this maybe once a month at most. I imagine I’d have a different view if I had to listen to it every day.
This is it, but I take the idea of ‘unthinking’ farther than you. From what I’ve seen, it may as well be a mental disorder in some people. It makes them deeply, deeply unlike me in any event.
I see that things work, or don’t, and I have questions about why. They believe … well, a good example is the old idea that painting the outside edge of a music CD with a green permanent marker improves sound quality. The smallest amount of research anywhere about how CDs work sheds grave doubts on the whole notion, which is reasonable since it’s crap. However, people actually did it. They did. For me to do it, I’d have to shut out a fairly large part of my mind that was wondering how it would work and prodding me to do research first. For them… their CDs are painted green and they apparently think it helps.
My point is, how could they not be curious enough to ask enough questions to finally poke enough holes in the idea to see through it? I don’t know and, unlike them, I’m interested to find out.
So I guess I have my answer: If I’m ever friends with someone who believes that crap, I strap them to an operating table and perform massively invasive brain surgery. It isn’t like they’d ever ask me why.
The Silicon Valley Tarot is the One True Prophesying method.
Did you read the part where I acknowledged it’s bullshit?
Pffft. While the geek zodiac is amusing, it doesn’t offer readings, whereas the SVT does.
I have to admit that I was intrigued that I’m an astronaut, though.
I really like the argument the Bad Astronomer uses to debunk astrology here. The premise of astrology is that some force from the planets affects our lives in a predicatable manner. This can’t be any of the forces known to science. The nuclear forces only operate over microscopic distances. The gravitational attraction of a distant planet is tiny, IIRC a person standing next to you exerts more of a gravitational attraction than the planet Jupiter from it’s position. It can’t be electromagnetism, as any EM emmision from the planets is miniscule compared to that of the sun.
However, it can’t be any force unknown to science either, from the astologers own rules. They claim all the planets have comparable effects, so it’s not something affected by mass or distance. But if that is the case, what effect do the billions of asteroids in orbit have? What about the dwarf planets (there are estimated to be as many as 40 pluto-sized objects waiting to be discovered in the outer solar system). What about the dozens of exo-solar planets now detected, and the billions more thought to be present in the galaxy?
I can’t get very exercised over this kind of woo. It’s a relatively harmless waste of time for those involved, like being a fan of pro wrestling. Maybe there are astrologers who con people out of lots of money like psychics, but you don’t hear a lot about them. And unlike other forms of woo, the practice of astrology doesn’t place my money or health in jeopardy. Speaking of which…
So what did she have to do to work off her debt?
Intelligence and a belief in nonsensical things aren’t antitheses.
Seriously, check the biographies of Nobel Prize winning scientists - people who are WAY cleverer than anyone on this forum - and a lot of the time you’ll find, along with the genius, some kind of mental whackiness. A few of them, outside their own fields of brilliance, were hard-core woo-mongers.
I’m an atheist, but I don’t feel the need to tell people with religious and/or superstitious beliefs how “stupid” they are. And I’ve known atheists who I consider to be stupid and superstitious people I consider to be very smart.
Really, the problem with human beings isn’t superstition, it’s that so many people, religious or rational, feel the need to call the other side “stupid” in order to boost their own egos.
Yeah, I hadn’t heard of it so I would assume they were worried about mercury poisoning.
Shouldn’t the planet be capitalized or am I just old school?
I do not suffer fools gladly. Unless required (due to work, or the fool being a relative) I walk away.
I’ve heard they have to clean Alex Trebek’s house.
I find that the “Adam Sandler” horoscopes are the most accurate.
possibly NSFW:
If you’re describing essentially everyone as being a “moron” then the word has ceased to have any real meaning.
A while ago, I promised myself that I will keep silent the next time someone in my vicinity reveals kooky beliefs. Arguing with them or pointing out the crazy doesn’t accomplish anything except getting my heart rate up.
I do know that I wouldn’t be able to date anyone who is seriously into astrology. Like if they know alll there is to know about the signs, houses, and ages etc., and they own charts and are always asking about people’s birthdates…I am allergic to this for some reason. It’s as though I lack the right enzymes to process this level and kind of woo. Inevitably, I would break down and call them crazy despite my best efforts not to, and there might even be a scene.