# Political Compass #51: Astrology accurately explains many things. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 7, 2005, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789 "2005-02-07T09:48:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/1 "2005-02-07T09:48:48Z")
Many political debates here have included references to [The Political Compass](http://www.politicalcompass.org/), which uses a set of 61 questions to assess one’s political orientation in terms of economic left/right _and_ social libertarianism/authoritarianism (rather like the “Libertarian diamond” popular in the US). And so, every so often I will begin a thread in which the premise for debate is one of the 61 questions. I will give which answer I chose and provide my justification and reasoning. Others are, of course, invited to do the same **including** those who wish to “question the question”, as it were. It would also be useful when posting in these threads to **give your own “compass reading” in your first post** , by convention giving the Economic value first. My own is **SentientMeat** : Economic: **-5.12** , Social: **-7.28** , and so by the above convention my co-ordinates are (-5.12, -7.28). Please also indicate which option you ticked. I might suggest what I think is the “weighting” given to the various answers in terms of calculating the final orientation, but seeing for yourself what kind of answers are given by those with a certain score might be more useful than second-guessing the test’s scoring system. Now, I appreciate that there is often dissent regarding whether the assessment the test provides is valid, notably by US conservative posters, either because it is “left-biased” (??) or because some propositions are clearly slanted, ambiguous or self-contradictory. The site itself provides answers to these and other [Frequently Asked Questions](http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/faq.html), and there is also a separate thread: [Does The Political Compass give an accurate reading?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248133) [size=2]Read these first and then, if you have an objection to the test _in general_, please post it there. If your objection is solely to the proposition in hand, post here. If your objection is to other propositions, please wait until I open a thread on them. (And for heaven’s sake, please don’t quote this _entire Opening Post_ when replying like [this](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=5174935&postcount=4) sufferer of bandwidth diarrhea.) The above will be pasted in every new thread in order to introduce it properly, and I’ll try to let each one exhaust itself of useful input before starting the next. Without wanting to “hog the idea”, I would be grateful if others could refrain from starting similar threads. Finally, I advise you to read the **full** proposition below, not just the thread title (which is necessarily abbreviated), and request that you debate my **entire OP** rather than simply respond, “IMHO”-like, to the proposition itself. To date, the threads are: [Does The Political Compass give an accurate reading?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248133) [Political Compass #1: Globalisation, Humanity and OmniCorp.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247383) [#2: My country, right or wrong](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=247908) [#3: Pride in one’s country is foolish.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248375) [#4: Superior racial qualities.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248580) [#5: My enemy’s enemy is my friend.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=248753) [#6: Justifying illegal military action.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=4721158) [#7: “Info-tainment” is a worrying trend.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=249406) [#8: Class division vs. international division. (+ SentientMeat’s economic worldview)](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=249816) [#9: Inflation vs. unemployment.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=250658) [#10: Corporate respect of the environment.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251067) [#11: From each according to his ability, to each according to need.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=251262) [#12: Sad reflections in branded drinking water.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=252138) [#13: Land should not be bought and sold.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=252355) [#14: Many personal fortunes contribute nothing to society.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=252559) [#15: Protectionism is sometimes necessary in trade.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253029) [#16: Shareholder profit is a company’s only responsibility.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253423) [#17: The rich are too highly taxed.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=253803) [#18: Better healthcare for those who can pay for it.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=254432) [#19: Penalising businesses which mislead the public.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=254988) [#20: The freer the market, the freer the people.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=255448) [#21: Abortion should be illegal.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=256127) [#22: All authority must be questioned.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=256613) [#23: An eye for an eye.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=257404) [#24: Taxpayers should not prop up theatres or museums.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=258246) [#25: Schools shouldn’t make attendance compulsory.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=259172) [#26: Different kinds of people should keep to their own.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=260249) [#27: Good parents sometimes have to spank their children.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=261472) [#28: It’s natural for children to keep secrets.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=262859) [#29: Marijuana should be legalised.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=263418) [#30: School’s prime function is equipping kids to find jobs.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=264126) [#31: Seriously disabled people should not reproduce.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=270464) [#32: Learning discipline is the most important thing.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=271521) [#33: ‘Savage peoples’ vs. ‘different culture’](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=271672) [#34: Society should not support those who refuse to work.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=273891) [#35: Keep cheerfully busy when troubled.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=274840) [#36: First generation immigrants can never be fully integrated](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=275445). [#37: What’s good for corporations is always good for everyone.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=276872) [#38: No broadcasting institution should receive public funding.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=278439) [#39: Our civil rights are being excessively curbed re. terrorism.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=280258) [#40: One party states avoid delays to progress.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=284761) [#41: Only wrongdoers need worry about official surveillance.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=286899) [#42: The death penalty should be an option for serious crimes.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=287969) [#43: Society must have people above to be obeyed.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=288516) [#44: Abstract art that doesn’t represent anything isn’t art at all.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=290299) [#45: Punishment is more important than rehabilitation](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=292787). [#46: It is a waste of time to try to rehabilitate some criminals.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=295477) [#47: Businessmen are more important than writers and artists.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=297342) [#48: A mother’s first duty is to be a homemaker.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=298595) [#49: Companies exploit the Third World’s plant genetic resources.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=299819) [#50: Mature people make peace with the establishment.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=300418) [/size] \*\*_Proposition #51_: Astrology accurately explains many things. SentientMeat\*\* (-5.12, -7.28) ticks _Strongly Disagree_. Things like… what, exactly? Why people are so gullible? How the misinformed live their lives? That humans evolved cognition far in advance of their ability to understand _how_ they did so, and could therefore only grasp at superstitious straws for thousands of years? The infinitessimal gravitational influence on my body of the other planets as they line up with stars of vastly differing proximity in optical illusions called “constellations” explains precisely **nothing** , I’m afraid. (I suppose that, say, children born in winter might tend to have some slight characteristic difference to those born in summer, but this is surely not what #51 has in mind?) As for the _political_ relevance of this proposition, well, I’d be grateful of an accurate explanation from _anyone_, thanks very much. Surely the Compass-designers are not correlating astrology with _open-mindedness_ and thus social liberalism? If so, our minds would unfortunately be _so_ open that our brains would fall out! Conversely, are they associating such gullibility with _authoritarianism_, since tyrants only come to power by pulling the wool over the eyes of the people to some extent? This is not particularly convincing either: authoritarian tyrants and emperors _did_ put much stock in such mumbo-jumbo, but so do Nancy Reagan and Cherie Blair. And surely this proposition cannot have any _economic_ significance? I feel that this is the one (and only one, in my opinion) proposition where they have genuinely **fucked up**. Writers, I beseech you, _bin_ this nonsense! ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/2 "2005-02-07T10:26:50Z")
(-0.5, -2) Totally disagree. Utter hogwash. Irrational belief in magic and mysticism is a mark of the closed society. “Feng shui” and lucky days/dates are bunkum. Gung Hei Fat Choy to one and all! Off to Bangkok for a little R&R now. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/3 "2005-02-07T10:50:20Z")
Dividing people up into different supopsed characters by the dates and times of their birth is no more sensible than doing so by the color of their skin, and no more laudable. While the PC is characteristically sloppy in phrasing the question, I get what it’s going at, and I totaly disagree. ---
**Author:** ![Rune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e68b1a/32.png) [@Rune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rune)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/4 "2005-02-07T11:01:21Z")
(7, -1 or thereabouts) Strongly agree Astrology is excellent at predicting whom are the fools. As for political relevance. Without any proof whatsoever (and with obvious exceptions, such as Nancy Reagan) it is my impression that, in the west, beliefs in such things as astrology, numerology, Feng Shui and other bullshit is more prevalent on the leftist/liberal wing than amongst more political right and right thinking individuals. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/5 "2005-02-07T11:02:46Z")
I am honestly curious as to how this question in any way predicts one’s place on the political compass. It’s quite out of place. ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/6 "2005-02-07T11:18:59Z")
-3.50 -3.64 Strongly Disagree This thread is a waste of space. The force of gravity due to the doctor that delivered me is greater than the effect of any planet, anywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/7 "2005-02-07T11:24:37Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I am honestly curious as to how this question in any way predicts one’s place on the political compass. It’s quite out of place. The point, I don’t doubt, lies in correlation over a large number of questions, not direct one to one correspondance to any one question. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/8 "2005-02-07T15:13:16Z")
Agree > [@](#): > > Astrology is excellent at predicting whom are the fools. What else can I say! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/9 "2005-02-07T15:46:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I am honestly curious as to how this question in any way predicts one’s place on the political compass. It’s quite out of place. I bet it applies to how a person submits to unknowable forces in the universe, i.e. where on the authoritarian scale you may reside. 😉 Economic Left/Right: 3.38 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -3.44 Strongly Disagree ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/10 "2005-02-07T16:16:25Z")
+7/-3 Stongly disagree. I have nothing to add to what has already been said. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/11 "2005-02-07T16:20:56Z")
> [@Rune](#): > > Strongly agree > Astrology is excellent at predicting whom are the fools. As usual, Heinlein said it first. From _The Notebooks of Lazurus Long_: “A touchstone to determine the actual worth of an “intellectual” -find out how he feels about astrology” ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/12 "2005-02-07T16:32:23Z")
I was somewhere in the middle…I think it was something like 1 and .7, or something. Disagree, for the reasons mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/13 "2005-02-07T16:56:45Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I am honestly curious as to how this question in any way predicts one’s place on the political compass. It’s quite out of place. I agree. I wonder how they use the response to this question in the scoring? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/14 "2005-02-07T16:57:47Z")
_:shrugs:_ Strongly disagree, for reasons already stated. But I would like to see what Agree on this question correlates to. I doubt that gullibility correlates much with Left vs. Right vs. Authoritarian vs. Whatever. Maybe someone with more patience than me can go back and retake the test and Agree Strongly with this question, and see what changes. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/15 "2005-02-07T17:25:06Z")
Strongly disagree…utter bullshit. I also am curious what this question is supposed to tell the makers about us individually. At a guess it shows their own bias, as (again guessing) they most likely put anyone who agree’s in the ‘ignorant right winger’ category and update their score accordingly. This would be only a half truth as a lot of the new age types are heavily left wing…but believe in this BS as well. -XT ---
**Author:** ![SentientMeat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@SentientMeat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SentientMeat)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/16 "2005-02-07T17:39:29Z")
Following **Shodan** ’s suggestion: Ticking all _Strongly Disagree_s gives (0.00, -4.36). Ticking all _Strongly Disagree_s **except** #51, and ticking _Strongly Agree_ instead, gives (0.00, -3.90). Thus, strong agreement with #51 gives you an enormous 0.46 nudge **away from libertarianism**. They must indeed be associating gullibility with authoritarianism, and considering right and left wings irrelevant here. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/17 "2005-02-07T18:41:03Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > Following **Shodan** ’s suggestion: Ticking all _Strongly Disagree_s gives (0.00, -4.36). Ticking all _Strongly Disagree_s **except** #51, and ticking _Strongly Agree_ instead, gives (0.00, -3.90). > > Thus, strong agreement with #51 gives you an enormous 0.46 nudge **away from libertarianism**. They must indeed be associating gullibility with authoritarianism, and considering right and left wings irrelevant here. Makes sense that how someone answers this question would reveal nothing about economic politics. Thus they are considering being gullible with favoring authoritarianism. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/18 "2005-02-07T18:53:39Z")
(-5.13, -6.36) Strongly disagree – and, like many others in this thread, I can’t see the political relevance of this question. ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/19 "2005-02-07T18:53:48Z")
> [@SentientMeat](#): > > Following **Shodan** ’s suggestion: Ticking all _Strongly Disagree_s gives (0.00, -4.36). Ticking all _Strongly Disagree_s **except** #51, and ticking _Strongly Agree_ instead, gives (0.00, -3.90). > > Thus, strong agreement with #51 gives you an enormous 0.46 nudge **away from libertarianism**. They must indeed be associating gullibility with authoritarianism, and considering right and left wings irrelevant here. I tried the test with all “Strongly Agree”, and also with ticking “Strongly Agree” except for #51 as “Strongly Disagree”. Your political compass Economic Left/Right: 0.00 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 4.36 Your political compass Economic Left/Right: 0.00 Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: 3.95 Apparently this test is set up that strongly agreeing or disagreeing with everything puts you right in the center economically. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789/20 "2005-02-07T19:37:27Z")
There may have been some validity to astrology in societies where a person’s diet varies with the season (due to the possible effects on a developing fetus of the mother’s diet), but not anymore. IIRC, one of the classic authoritarian personality traits is a lack of skepticism/introversion. That may explain the presence of this question. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/political-compass-51-astrology-accurately-explains-many-things/288789.md?page=2)