I don't understand astrology, I study astronomy. When will astrology catch up to modern day science?

Question

I do not study astrology. I study astronomy. When I see questions about planets and constellations I click them. To find that there is actually no real scientific thinking being posed into these questions.

Why is that? Do modern day astrologers do they really understand what they are talking about?

In astronomy, we learn to make measurements of quantities such as the positions of objects in the sky, as well as their physical characteristics (mass, composition, etc) from the observation of electromagnetic spectrum (radio, microwaves, infrared, visible light, ultraviolet, X-rays) as well as nuclear radiation (gamma rays, charged particles), and advance testable hypotheses about how they work.

So how come astrology uses references from the actual science? Do astrologers have any absolute idea what they discuss? Do they have any idea about any planets, asteroids or "celestial" objects they talk about? 

My final question, Why on earth do Astrologers continue to refer Pluto as a planet? It's been heavily discussed and confirmed to why it is not a planet. You would think modern astrologers would want to keep up with science..? Why does astrology still assume Pluto is a Planet?

? · Accepted Answer

It already benefits from science. The astrologers stopped observing the sky centuries ago. They did not find the planets (or name) the planets beyond Saturn. Or the asteroids. Some being used now are fairly recent discoveries such as Chiron, which is really a captured comet. Which raises the question; was astrology inaccurate before, say Pluto was adapted? We know that size does not matter, as there are many bodies in our solar system larger than Pluto that are not used. Also note distance is a total non factor. Do the planets really have a physical power?

Edit: I would say astronomy came after astrology.

"To show how real astronomical wonder can be presented to children, I'll borrow from a book called Earthsearch by John Cassidy, which I brought back from America to show my daughter Juliet. Find a large open space and take a soccer ball to represent the sun. Put the ball down and walk ten paces in a straight line. Stick a pin in the ground. The head of the pin stands for the planet Mercury. Take another 9 paces beyond Mercury and put down a peppercorn to represent Venus. Seven paces on, drop another peppercorn for Earth. One inch away from earth, another pinhead represents the Moon, the furthest place, remember, that we've so far reached. 14 more paces to little Mars, then 95 paces to giant Jupiter, a ping-pong ball. 112 paces further, Saturn is a marble. No time to deal with the outer planets except to say that the distances are much larger. But, how far would you have to walk to reach the nearest star, Proxima Centauri? Pick up another soccer ball to represent it, and set off for a walk of 4200 miles. As for the nearest other galaxy, Andromeda, don't even think about it!
     Who'd go back to astrology when they've sampled the real thing -- astronomy...?"

-- Richard Dawkins, in "Science, Delusion and the Appetite for Wonder," The Richard Dimbleby Lecture, BBC1 Television (12 November 1996)

? · Answer

It's a complete waste of time answering your question because your preconception of astrology is very similar to close minded cynics who are not looking for answers to their questions but rather for someone who agrees with them (enter Fearless Leader).  Ironic, isn't it? How people who critique astrology for being merely an ancient scam, getting certain people to say certain things that they would like to hear, fall prey to the very same thought processes that they are critiquing.

Anyways, that said, I mostly even bothered to answer to state that you are dead wrong when it comes to astronomy existing before astrology. It's the exact opposite. Astronomy branched off from astrology.  It is just entirely logical that this was the order of things. It's really not that hard at all to understand and, I really don't mean to sound like an asshole, but it's just laughable to me that you should be so knowledgeable on astronomy but actually believe that it came before astrology.

As for your other questions, no, modern day astrologers probably do not really understand what they are talking about because as you would expect, astrology is an ancient practice that has (for the most part) been lost with time. Tying this information into your last question, there are many branches of astrology, some of which do include (amongst other celestial bodies) Pluto as a planet, and others that do not. The Sun is also considered a planet in astrology, but we all are well aware that the Sun is a star. The Moon is also not a real planet, astronomically speaking, but it is when addressing it in astrology.  Why is this? Simply because astronomy and astrology are two different sciences and thus define what we see in the night's sky distinctly from each other.

Apples and oranges are both fruits.

John J. S · Answer

Modern astronomy evolved from astrology.

Astrology always was and still is fortune telling.  It is still based on the concepts of (1) the Earth in the center of the galaxy (2) Sun and moon are also"planets" (3) all "planets"rotate" in perfect circles around a stationary earth.  Astronomy stole its terms from astrology,ot the other way around. They neither have nor want "science" facts to interfere in their predictions based on planetary motions.  better to expect macroeconomic theory from a poet.

Scorpio · Answer

Oh....it might bug you even more to know that there are other types of astrology that actually even use hypothetical stars and still make predictions, like Uranian astrology or the Chinese astrologies, Bazi and Zi Wei Dou Shu...

Anonymous · Answer

Schmool

- · Answer

When you go to school, does everybody take and major in one class subject? EFFIN NO. There's more than one way to learn about something, more than a few specialists out there and you need them all. JUPITER SIZE IT

Aldebaran · Answer

Sorry, you are not telling the truth. Your questions and answers show a very low level of astronomy understanding. I'm mainly on the physics or astronomy sections, but I read this section on occasion. You might be happier in those sections.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20090802192950AAN7nyt

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100516130833AAYKbXY

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100424185220AAumJDE

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100526185149AAkjXRK

Anonymous · Answer

Did you know that the computer you're sitting on is only there because you believe it to be? 
we observe the universe through our senses. which is only our channel, not the actual reality. 

look into quantum physics since you seem to be interested in that sort of thannng

VICTORIA STUDIES · Answer

:)

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I don't understand astrology, I study astronomy. When will astrology catch up to modern day science?

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