Why do people believe in astrology?

> Others just need a reason to be prejudice<

Prejudiced

>Astrology buffs also love the notion that they can know all about you by your birthday.<

Of course the scientific evidence for this bit of prejudice will be forthcoming --- someday.

I'm not a mind reader, unlike my friend with the quick cliches, so I can't answer your question precisely and neither can anyone else. Instead I'm going demonstrate your misconceptions and then maybe, but I doubt it, maybe you'll look at astrology a bit differently.

>Millions of people will be born within a few hours of you, hundreds of millions within the same star sign period.< ,

"Star" signs, more accurately known as Sun signs or sun sign astrology, makes for nice columns in ladies magazines and somewhere on Yahoo. It is not real astrology any more than a bicycle is the same as a motorcycle. So forget that that part of your argument. I agree; very little, and maybe nothing, can be told from the Sun sign alone.

It is true that many people are born within a few hours of each other, but so what? A chart can be significantly different if two people are born in the same place only minutes apart. Signs can change within that time period, planets and/or angles can move into or out of conjunction with fixed stars and that can make a significant difference. But the place matters greatly as well. Two infants drawing their first breath simultaneously but 3000 miles apart will not have the same chart. They will have the same planetary positions, but in different houses. Since houses are areas of life, those planets will manifest differently in the respective lives.

Ahhhh but what about "time twins" people born geographically close to each other and at the same time. I have a tough time with this concept because after many years studying astrology, I don't ever recall seeing a legitimate pair of time twins. I've seen close (within a couple of hours), but not exact or even close to exact. Astrology skeptic Geoffrey Dean was supposed to publish this time twin study that once and for all would demolish astrology. When it came out it seems that Mr. Dean was forced to use births as much as 5 hours apart and he wouldn't release his raw data (hiding something?). He didn't have enough valid data to make a sensible study or even a report. So unless and until someone does a legitimate time twin study, the jury is out.

Finally, I'm going to throw the skeptics a bone: >Do you really think there is an underlying way based on the alignment of the planets that means all of these millions of people will all share the same traits?<

Putting aside the obvious bigotry of the question, let's explain something. Modern astrology claims it is "character analysis" and many modern astrologers have no idea where that expression came from. It came from an astrologer, Alan Leo (1860 - 1917) who was trying to avoid conviction of the anti astrology "vagrancy" laws that forbid telling of fortunes. He is, in effect, saying, "I don't tell fortunes, I perform character analysis."

This is semantics, but it is true that astrology in the US and in the UK was drifting from prediction of events to prediction of character or (listen for the trumpets to blare) the almighty personality*. So to answer your question in the proper perspective, yes, astrologers believe they can determine a good deal of information about personality from the positions of the planets at birth.

The reason you and others like you think this is preposterous (besides having never studied the subject) is that your knee jerk understanding of absolutely everything is cause and effect - an idea taken to the extreme in other areas, yet considered acceptable. If I asked "Do you really believe a person's sexuality can be determined by the way he was toilet trained?" You would think, "Sure why not?" To others that sounds absurd.

If not cause and effect then what? Prior to the so-called Enlightenment (a new form of the dark ages to some), people believed that everything was connected in some way, no matter how slight, to everything else. If you ever bother to learn anything about this worldview other than maintaining a prejudice toward it, you'll see it can make a great deal of sense**. I can't go into all that here and now. But if we accept the premise, then astrology is just common sense.Yes the position of the planets as viewed from the birthplace can help us identify certain characteristics and/or predict events. They don't have to cause anything. Ink blot tests don't cause anything, but psychologists read them. What could be sillier?

But the real question is this: Is the purpose of astrology to perform superficial personality analysis? I don't think so.

*"Personality" to a mental health professional is the sum total of what we ae outside our bodies. It is the conscious, unconscious, intelligence, etc. Around here the personality is how we behave in front of others. This is important to teenagers - nobody else.

** Here is something to think about: all reasonably well thought out ideas make sense. The humanities are a forgotten resource. With the price of college going through the roof the tendency is to turn colleges and universities into glorified trade schools. Something has to go and apparently that something is the humanities. Even a cursory stufy of philosophy shows us that ideas change significantly from one philosopher to another. If you study Socrates and only Socrates, you'll see the logic of his positions are crystal clear - until you study Plato. Then you'll see where Plato was right and Socrates was wrong - until you study Aristotle and so on. The Enlightenment changed all that and for the first time in human history, the newer worldview or paradigm was used to beat the older ones into submission. Hence the attitude that everyone who doesn't agree with me is stupid is actually considered valid. Socrates isn't wrong because Plato is "right" about some things. Aristotle isn't right because he may have trumped Plato here and there. Thought doesn't work that way.

The reasons vary widely.

Some people don't take control of their lives and avoid reality. Others just need a reason to be prejudice. Racism and sexism are not acceptable anymore. Being a bigot with a calendar, now that makes sense.

Astrology buffs also love the notion that they can know all about you by your birthday. That certain dates mean you are naturally better (or worse) than other people. Education and experience are non-factors.

Given a choice some people want to be programed like robots. Belief that astrology works is their ultimate fantasy.

Add: Back at both of you. Does science have any value? No elaborations, just yes or no.

>The reasons vary widely. >snip<

How do you know any of this? Do you have a scientific study published in a peer reviewed journal? That's what you demand. Oh you don't have to prove your prejudices. You only need to assert them. The peons without the approved versions of thought must provide evidence that you can dismiss for one idiotic reason or another.

You don't know anything about astrology and therefore have no intellectual right to claim why people use it, because you don't understand what it is that they use. In short you are judging before the facts are in. That's the English language definition of the word "prejudice." Or in your case, that's the pot calling the kettle black.

bc 9/10 is accurate too accurate

thye don't