Astrology vs Science

Is Astrology really a science? People's opinions vary endlessly over the issue and in most cases; we are likely to find multitudes that have more or less a neutral standpoint.

Nevertheless, this has been an issue of debate for long. It could never be denied that in history, we have had some astounding incidents wherein some events had been predicted, with great accuracy, and long before they actually occurred. In essence, it would be wrong to reject astrology and the power that it possesses over our lives.

Astrology as a science

Expressed in a simple way, Vedic astrology is a study that defines how the positioning and movement of celestial bodies influence our lives and the physical processes on earth. In most cases, astrologers work with the sun, the moon, their placement and the placement of planets within the solar system. But it is very important to understand that Vedic astrology is a science, or an art form far more deeply rooted than the zodiac sign horoscope columns that we normally come across.

People sometimes say that astrology has a lot to do with a divine faith of some sort, and is not backed by reason. But on the contrary, claims made by astrology can be tested in objectively in individual cases. Moreover, rejecting astrology as just another new age theory would be absolutely wrong, because the art form has been in prominence for at least five thousand years. And we often find that in the history of human evolution, some concepts were once rejected as being impossible, but were later proved to be true without any doubt. During the age of enlightenment, a belief that earth could be hit by rocks from outer space was ridiculed by the scientists of that age. But now we know with undeniable scientific evidence that meteorites have played a great role in defining the evolution of species.

Astrology can't be called a belief or a religion, and anyone who has ever studied astrology knows that it is a knowledge that can be tested and verified. Anyone who rejects astrology is likely to be doing so out of ignorance. Astrology undoubtedly is based on a mechanism, and is a detailed study, an ocean of knowledge. If one dismisses astrology by claiming that it is not scientific, one must understand that not understanding the mechanism can never be a viable reason for overlooking the evidence! A compass has been used for two millennia for predicting directions, but the magnetic field of the earth was not understood right till the 20th century. And a science must be used in a constructive way; rejecting a demonstrable effect would be absolutely wrong!

If one believes that he is trying to find the actual proof behind the mechanism of Vedic astrology, he must recognize that science can never be proved. We can deduce a proof in mathematics that claims that a proposition is true, but you can never prove physics. It is the aggregation of empirical evidence that builds up a theory! And with replications, a theory is established. With the advent of new age, scientists are discovering innumerable correlations between celestial positions and life on earth!

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Why astrology is not a science: Different opinions

Astrology (from Greek) “astro”- star, “logos” – word, an art of anticipation of the future.

There is no physic theory that position of any blue object (celestial body) in the moment of someone’s birth has influence on his future and destiny, Of course we cannot exclude unknown till this time forms of physics’ reactions. But about that we could worry only if somebody would proof that motion, movement of planets really have influence on our life.

On the earth in one moment are born millions of people, if we believe in horoscopes, why was only one Chopin, one Einstein, or one Copernic?

In my opinion that is the reason why astrology is not a science:

But, on the other hand, I like that something metaphysical in astrology, in our history we can easily find people: smart, intelligent, famous, who thought about astrology as a science.

Why President Reagan used to meet an astrologer? Furthermore, he said, “its common knowledge that a large percentage of Wall Street brokers use astrology”

We may also refer to Einstein, who said

“Astrology is a science in itself and contains an illuminating body of knowledge. It taught me many things and I am greatly indebted to it. Geophysical evidence reveals the power of the stars and the planets in relation to the terrestrial. In turn, astrology reinforces this power to some extent. This is why astrology is like a life-giving elixir to mankind.”

Or Benjamin Franklin

“Astrology is one of the most ancient Sciences, held in high esteem of old, by the Wise and the Great. Formerly, no Prince would make War or Peace, nor any General fight in Battle, in short, no important affair was undertaken without first consulting an Astrologer. “

If we go further, and if astrology is not a kind of science, then other “alternative” sciences like radiestezy, homeopathy or parapsychology we should threat the same way. They are also not known to the end and they are also don’t have scientist proof.

Astronomy is the study of the cosmos at all levels.

The science, which investigates all the matter-energy in the universe: its distribution, composition, physical states, movements, and evolution.

Basically same as astrology, but astronomy have proof of their theory, astrology not, astronomy don’t try to find something in common with universe and people’s life. Astronomy is celestial "observation" and ancient astrology provides the "interpretation” which cannot be proof.

That’s why astronomy is a science.

Achieving scientific validation is the gold standard in a world that is dominated by science.

But entry to this exclusive club has its requirements and its price.  In this series 'Why Astrology is Not a Science',  I  explore:

• whether or not astrology can legitimately be called a science

• how the practice of astrology is distorted when squeezed into a scientific mold

These are very large issues.  They have been debated within and outside the astrological community at least since the 17th century, and they have been hotly debated in various ISAR-related forums.  In my experience, the two camps – those who think astrology is a science and those who think it isn’t – are fairly well entrenched. 

You can tell by the title of this series of posts, which camp I am in.  I have written extensively about my views in the ISAR e-letter and a previous article in The International Astrologer (Landwehr, Joe. “On the Use of Science to Measure Astrological Theory.” Aries, 2007 Issue, pp. 48-53), presented a talk at the ISAR conference in Chicago (August, 2009), and devoted over 200 pages of my book, The Seven Gates of Soul: Reclaiming the Poetry of Everyday Life to this topic.  In this series, I wish to summarize the most important points I’ve made in these various forums, and add a few new insights.

To place my views in some perspective, it is useful to know that before I began studying astrology, nearly 40 years ago, I was a chemistry major at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a college specifically oriented toward training scientists and engineers.  In my rigorous study of the theory and practice of science, and later in graduate school working toward my Master’s degree in Marriage, Family & Child Counseling, I became acutely aware of the limitations of science in addressing both the nature of reality and matters of human psychology.  I was – for a short time – an insider, studying to become a scientist.  So my views are rooted in what I believe was a sincere effort to understand the discipline I later came to reject as a suitable paradigm for the work that I do. 

I am not anti-science.  I think science has its place in the study of the material world.  But I think science oversteps its bounds in attempting to study the human psyche and in its application to many of the so-called soft sciences – like psychology, sociology, anthropology, and history – which I consider a sort of track record of the evolution of collective psychology.  To the extent that we apply ourselves as astrologers to the study of these fields, I also think science is a poor mold in which to cast ourselves.  In this series I would like to tell you why.  I welcome your thoughts in the comments below any of the posts in the series or in direct communication by email.

Here is a  summary of the view I'll be elaborating on in the forthcoming posts ...

Astrology is not a science because:

• Our own historical development is not that of a science.

• Astrology does not yield objective truth.

• Its conclusions are context-dependent, inconsistent from one context to the next and not verifiable by research demanding consensus and replicability.

• Its conclusions are derived through a wide range of diverse techniques and approaches to astrology that differ widely from astrologer to astrologer.

• Its conclusions are derived, not through empirical observation alone, but through the participation of subject and object in a mutual dialogue.

• Its conclusions assume the possibility of meaning and purpose, while science disavows these possibilities and is not prepared to discuss them.

• Astrology ascribes a qualitative dimension to time, which is not acknowledged by science.

• Astrology has no cogent, testable mechanism to explain how it works; nor has any such theory ever been tested by the rigorous standards demanded by science.

This series of posts has been adapted from a lecture given at the ISAR Conference (Chicago, August 22, 2009) and later published in the ISAR's International Astrologer Aries issue (Vol. 38, No.3, 2010).  

The horoscope compiled by Kepler.

VG Surdin's book "Astrology and Science" convincingly shows that astrology is not a science, but a dead science, pseudoscience or pseudoscience. All three of these characteristics of astrology used in print are correct, but I prefer the latter. Moreover, astrology can be called a “reference pseudoscience”. I mean that the example of astrology clearly shows some features of pseudoscience in general.

The fact is that the conclusion about the pseudoscientific nature of certain statements is sometimes a rather difficult task and, in any case, requires caution. Indeed, what is the scientific worldview and science? The basis of the scientific worldview is as follows: when studying nature (including, of course, man), one must be based solely on experience, observations and experiments. Further, the results obtained are trying to compare, take into account all this material and build a picture of the observed or, say, understand the cause or mechanism of the discovered phenomena, find an explanation for them. So, for example, as a result of astronomical observations, the structure of the solar system was clarified. This was done in the 16th century by Copernicus, who, by the way, had ancient Greek predecessors. Copernicus's heliocentric theory (model) in a difficult struggle defeated the previously accepted geocentric model, in the center of which was the Earth.

Another example is the nature of warmth. Of course, since ancient times it has been known that when two bodies come into contact - hot and cold - the temperature is equalized due to the cooling of the hotter body. But what explains this? Even in the 18th century - on the scale of the history of civilization quite recently - the theory of caloric was widespread, according to which heat is transferred by a certain weightless liquid (caloric); the more it is, the hotter the body. Now we know well that the temperature of a body is a measure of the motion of the atoms and molecules forming the body, that is, it is not the theory of caloric content that is valid, but the so-called kinetic theory of heat. Therefore, if someone in our days tries to revive the theory of caloric, then we can say without any doubt that we are dealing with pseudoscience.

The situation is exactly the same with the law of conservation of energy. For many years, many centuries they have been trying to get energy from nothing, or at least to build a "perpetual motion machine". And the always offered "perpetual motion machines" did not work. It became clear that there is such a quantity - energy, which is conserved, that is, in fact, the law of conservation of energy was discovered. Therefore, starting from the 18th century, for example, the French Academy of Sciences stopped even considering projects of perpetual motion machines. The assumption that you can get or increase energy from nothing is pseudoscience today.

It is clear from the examples given that pseudoscientific statements and theories often turn out to be, so to speak, historical categories. Once upon a time these were hypotheses that, before their refutation, cannot be considered and called pseudoscientific. But when their injustice is reliably shown, attempts to revive these concepts, statements and theories become pseudoscientific. Thus, it is clear that something can be considered pseudoscience only if science has proven it. But it is precisely here that the main difficulty lies in the fight against pseudoscience. Its representatives and defenders are trying to question the validity of those scientific statements that they dislike. So, for example, the inventor of a new “perpetual motion machine” says: the law of conservation of energy is based on experience, the “perpetual motion machines” proposed so far have not worked, but mine does.

Here, obviously, the question arises about the existence of true knowledge. As already mentioned, the entire scientific worldview is based on the assumption that truth exists, and its receipt and verification is possible only as a result of experiments and observations. However, you can always make only a finite number of certain experiments. And at some stage, if the data of all existing experiments are identical, an appropriate conclusion is made, say, about the impossibility of creating a perpetual motion machine. This conclusion is associated with going beyond formal logic and with some intuitive judgment. This is described in more detail in a very profound book by E. L. Feinberg, and this is not the place for a discussion of this issue.

One way or another, all our science is connected with the statement about the existence of some truth, which science also obtains. The more developed the science in this area is, the more likely it is that it really got to the truth. A scientist is a person who, in particular, is familiar with the evidence of justice, the truth of certain scientific propositions. He can distinguish science from pseudoscience. Of course, in more complex cases, one expert may not be enough and expert commissions are created. However, the need for this arises very rarely when it comes to issues covered in newspapers and popular magazines (in the media). Astrology, violation of the law of conservation of energy, torsion fields, some mysterious rays unknown to science, and the like appear in these publications. Any qualified physicist can and should refute such statements. No less and even more harmful are all kinds of anti-scientific methods of treating diseases and, in general, pseudoscience in biology and medicine. Specialists should refute the corresponding nonsense.

Now I can explain once again why I called astrology above “a reference pseudoscience”. The fact is that, as is clear, in particular, from VG Surdin's book, the falsity of astrology has been proven from all, so to speak, sides: both from the standpoint of physics, and on the basis of biology data, and especially as a result of statistical studies of horoscopes. The absurdity, the absurdity of many such horoscopes should, it would seem, be obvious to any reasonable person. For example, Izvestia, an all-Russian newspaper with a huge circulation, gives astrological forecasts for every day at once for all people born under one or another zodiac sign. I am writing these lines on February 2, 2007, and I was born on October 4, “under the sign” of the constellation Libra. So, the following is recommended for me today:

“If new business partners or colleagues take on some of your responsibilities, you will feel much calmer and more confident. At the same time, you should not be afraid that you will lose some of your powers ”.

It would also be good if such advice was given to a particular businessman. The main thing, however, is not this and not the sufficient meaninglessness of the advice, but the fact that it is given to all “Libra” at once, that is, more than 500 million people! Indeed, there are over 6 billion people living on Earth now; there are 12 constellations taken into account in the forecast, and, thus, about 500 million people are on “Libra”.

So, astrology is a typical pseudoscience, and the advice of astrologers is just nonsense, nonsense. Why print such predictions and mislead people? True, one has to deal with such an opinion: of course, astrological forecasts are nonsense, but who believes them, reading them is just innocent fun. I do not agree with this opinion. Of course, literate people do not believe in horoscopes, but there are also many who believe in them. Why fool them, give them advice that can, if followed, lead to dire consequences. By the way, I saw in the newspapers and advice of astrologers to gardeners and gardeners. You can imagine what they lead to.

Above, we talked about the scientific worldview and what pseudoscience is from the standpoint of such a worldview. As you know, there is also a religious worldview underlying various religions. At the same time, theistic religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism) are organically linked with the recognition of the existence of miracles, that is, say, phenomena that contradict scientific knowledge. This is not the place to touch on the religious worldview (I am an atheist, and my views on religion are reflected, in particular, in the articles in the book). But it should be noted that some religions (at least Christianity) have a negative attitude to astrology. This is important, because in the fight against astrology we do not come into conflict with the church.

At the same time, it should be noted that theistic religions (as opposed to deism) are incompatible with the denial of miracles. They, like astrology, are a product of ancient times. The positive that is associated with religion (some commandments, etc.) is actually completely independent of it and is, so to speak, a product of the development of human society. Therefore, everything positive retains its place within the framework of secular humanism, which replaced religion and is accepted by many, me in particular. What is secular humanism? I will confine myself to references to literary sources with which readers can familiarize myself (see article 29, written by V.A.Kuvakin and me, as well). One of the cornerstones on which secular humanism rests is the denial of miracles, the recognition of the validity of the scientific worldview.

As far as I know, serious newspapers of astrological forecasts do not print abroad. This is only the lot of the tabloid, or, as they sometimes say, the yellow press. But in Russia, astrological forecasts are now being published in newspapers that are considered serious, for example, in Izvestia. This newspaper is only a few months younger than me (I am 90 years old), and I have been reading it since my youth. In Soviet times, there were no horoscopes in the newspapers - this is one of the few examples of the posture of censorship. In modern Russia, censorship has been abolished and, at least in words, freedom of speech has been proclaimed. This is, of course, a huge achievement for democracy. But, unfortunately, positive phenomena often lead to negative consequences. So in this case: permissiveness has replaced censorship. It has become possible to print almost anything, except that pornography has not yet poured into a wide stream on the pages and screens of the media. But pseudoscientific materials are published without any restrictions. As already mentioned, the turn came to Izvestia - several years ago astrological forecasts appeared on their pages. As a long-term reader of the newspaper, this particularly touched me, and I wrote a corresponding letter to the editor-in-chief of Izvestia. Was not honored with any answer. A few years later, Izvestia had a new editor-in-chief, and I wrote to him again, but with the same result. Finally, in 2005, I learned from the newspaper that a new general director had appeared in Izvestia. I wrote to him the following letter:

From Izvestia, September 12, p. It became known that you became the General Director of Izvestia. Unfortunately, I do not know the exact functions of the General Director in Izvestia (in the scientific literature, the role of the head of the publication is played by the chief or executive editor of the publication; for example, I am the Chief Editor of the journal Uspekhi Fizicheskikh Nauk (UFN) - the most popular, judging by rating, scientific physics journal in Russia). But in this case, it seems to me, my ignorance of your functions is not important: it is clear that you largely determine the editorial policy of Izvestia.

Now, why am I writing to you - the third chapter of Izvestia in recent years. The fact is that for several years Izvestia has been placing astrological forecasts on the last page. I believe that this is completely unacceptable and puts Izvestia (one of the best and oldest Russian newspapers) in the position of a representative of the “yellow press”. This conclusion is explained by the fact that astrology at the present time is an undoubted pseudoscience and its propaganda in any form is antisocial activity.

 

I have already written about this in a number of articles that can be found in my book “On Science, About Me and Others” (Fizmatlit, 2003) and on the website: www.ufn.ru, section “UFN Tribune” (this is a section of the journal's website Physics ± Uspekhi, which contains articles by a number of authors not on physical topics). Con-

I would like to draw your attention to an open letter to the Editor-in-Chief of Izvestia, dedicated to the publication in Izvestia on August 18, 2003 of the article “Every district of Moscow is controlled by space” (see http://data.ufn.ru//tribune/Gin_lett. pdf ", an article by academicians E. B. Aleksandrov, V. L. Ginzburg, E. P. Kruglyakov, V. E. Fortov" Astrology has reached the law enforcement agencies "," Izvestia "No. 179 dated October 25, 2003 and an article “Four percent science” published in “Parlamentskaya Gazeta” on March 17, 2004 (http://data.ufn.ru//tribune/trib 170304.pdf "). In addition, if you would like someone I either told the editorial staff or to you personally, then I can recommend to you V.G.Surdin, a researcher at the P.K.Sternberg Astronomical Institute, Moscow State University.

Currently (and for a long time) I am in the hospital, and I cannot and do not want to spread much about astrology now. However, in order to avoid misunderstandings, I consider it expedient to explain why I am so actively fighting astrology: this is part of the fight against pseudoscience in general, which we are trying to do at the RAS, especially within the framework of the Commission to Combat Pseudoscience (the chairman of the commission is Academician Eduard Pavlovich Kruglyakov , secretary - Elena Vladimirovna Babak).

Unfortunately, astrological forecasts are published not only by Izvestia, and I know the usual motive in defense of such publications: supposedly what pseudoscience is is not clear in advance, and who proved that astrology is a pseudoscience, and in general such publications are supposedly only useful. I think this is ignorance or shameless demagoguery. To substantiate this statement, it is necessary to provide some explanations:

1. Astrology is a pseudoscience at the present time, but once, before Galileo and Kepler, it was not such, that is, the statement about its pseudoscience is, so to speak, a historical category. The same, by the way, applies to many other things, for example, to alchemy, the concept of caloric, etc. But what does this have to do with today?

2. We consider pseudoscience what is contrary to the reliable scientific knowledge of today. So, astrology is wrong, firstly, because now the forces with which the planets act on the Earth are well known, and it is clear that these forces are so small that they cannot influence the fate of people. Secondly, numerous statistical "observations" were carried out, from which it is clear that the position of the planets does not have any effect on the fate of people (for more details see the above literature and especially the article by Ye. B. Aleksandrov et al.).

3. Astrological forecasts, as you can see on Izvestia's own pages, are exceptionally meaningless and absurd. To think that such things are “innocent”, I see no reason. Most readers of this chatter, of course, do not believe, but those who do, can suffer significant damage.

Your predecessors did not deign to reply to my letters with a recommendation not to disgrace Izvestia by publishing pseudo-scientific nonsense. The only motive I know of as justifying the publication of pseudo-scientific nonsense in the newspapers is an ostensible concern to attract more readers. But serious newspapers, in contrast to tabloid ones, cannot and should not motivate their editorial policy solely by profit, moreover, I doubt that the newspaper earns a lot in this way. This is probably beneficial only to certain interested employees.

If I can be useful, I am ready to do it, and I hope that you will not follow the example of your predecessors, who did not even answer me.

Sincerely,

Nobel Prize Laureate Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.L. Ginzburg

Then I sent a second letter:

General Director of Izvestia, Mr. P. Godlevsky

Dear Mr. Godlevsky!

On September 20, 2005, I sent you a letter by e-mail (it was also sent to you in the Izvestia editorial office in an envelope on September 24).

I hope to receive an answer, but, regardless of this, my letter to you will be posted on the UFN website (www.ufn.ru in the section “UFN Tribune” on October 20, 2005). We have not done this before in order to be able to place your answer there (if any).

Now I am writing to you in connection with, so to speak, "the development of events." I mean the story with Grabovoi, which in recent days has been adequately covered in Izvestia. But what is the activity of Grabovoi? This is, in fact, the same quackery and fraud as astrology, which I focused on in my previous letter.

Of course, there is a difference: experienced astrologers limit their chatter in such a way that it does not give rise to criminal prosecution. By the way, I do not believe that astrologers (and a number of other scammers) should be prosecuted until they do obvious harm. But, of course, they should not be given a platform and published their anti-scientific nonsense in the newspapers.

This example with Grabovoi clearly illustrates what has been said, and one cannot simultaneously scold Grabovoy and popularize astrology. This is what I want to draw your attention to again.

Sincerely,

Nobel Prize Laureate Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences V.L. Ginzburg

Finally got this answer:

Dear Vitaly Lazarevich!

I share your views on astrology. I handed over all the letters to the editor-in-chief of Izvestia, Vladimir Borodin. In his opinion, astrological forecasts in the newspaper may take place.

According to the Charter of the joint-stock company “Editorial office of the newspaper“ Izvestia ”, the editor-in-chief has the right to determine the content of the newspaper himself. Thus, the creative independence of the editorial office is guaranteed.

In this regard, I cannot fulfill your request - to remove astrological forecasts from the pages of the publication.

General Director of OJSC "Editorial office of the newspaper Izvestia"

Peter Godlevsky

This is how the forecasts continue to adorn the last page of Izvestia. During this time, as reported in the press, V. Borodin was replaced as editor-in-chief of Izvestia by V. Mamontov, who obviously shares the views of V. Borodin. This does not surprise me, because I have also read a statement by the head of the Gazprom-Media organization, which owns Izvestia. The designated leader proclaims that the main thing is income, money. And how and for what they get this money, it doesn't matter. As you know, the same opinion was held by one of the Roman emperors, who said that "money does not smell." Unfortunately, this ancient maxim has become dominant in our country, especially in the media. The fact is that the abolition of censorship literally led to an outbreak, a stream of all pseudoscience, astrology in particular, in the press and on television, and wherever possible. This undoubtedly brings enormous harm to the country, and it is completely incomprehensible to me why the authorities are indifferently looking at such an outrage. There are many examples, they are given, for example, in books, and it does not seem appropriate to me to discuss them here in addition to what has already been said.

Why do our authorities even care about how to trade in the markets, but do not pay attention to the need to fight pseudoscience and its propaganda? As already mentioned, freedom of speech and the abolition of censorship is a huge achievement, but it must be protected from those who abuse this freedom.

I have lived most of my life, 70 years, under the Bolshevik-Stalinist regime. I well remember all these labels (disenfranchised, enemy of the people, rootless cosmopolitan, etc.), which were hung on the unwanted. And in no case do I propose to return to this practice. But some body should be created that openly discusses the abuse of freedom of speech and has the right to rid the population of propaganda of pseudoscience, quackery, occultism, etc. Perhaps the Public Chamber could do this.

As I already wrote in the above second letter to the general director of Izvestia, we are not talking, generally speaking, about criminal prosecution, but only about the suppression of harmful activities. And there is no reason to worry about the employment of these people. Now there is no unemployment in Russia and, on the contrary, in many areas, in particular for trading in the markets, sellers are needed. The qualifications of astrologers and their patrons, I think, are quite sufficient for trading, say, fruit or pork instead of horoscopes.

The Science and Life magazine does not print horoscopes, nor does Feng Shui forecasts. The readers of the magazine know that astrological forecasts are anti-scientific and it is absurd to follow them, because they can really do harm. As for publications in the media, it is useless to prohibit them, and only scientific knowledge serves as protection against harm.

What are the reasons for the modern popularity of astrology, which has emerged, it would seem, from complete oblivion?

What social groups are most likely to trust astrological predictions?

What is the place and connection of astrology with other types of fortune telling (palmistry, numerology, etc.) and with other pseudo-scientific studies (ufology, telepathy, etc.)?

Can the degree of passion for astrology act as a measure of the culture of a society? or is it a symbol of culture (remember how widespread astrology is in India - a country of ancient culture that is rapidly approaching the leaders of modern civilization)?

What is the relationship between astrology and religion?

What is the scale of the astrological business and how corrupt is it, that is, what is the role of the state apparatus in it?

What are the predictive capabilities of science, how real are they and what are their limitations?

Can a passion for astrology develop into a passion for science? Astrology as a pedagogical method - is it possible?

Where is the border between science and nonscience (parascience, pop science, anti-science)?

Is it justified from the point of view of public benefit to draw clear boundaries between science and "nonsciences", the struggle for the purity of science and criticism of all kinds of chimeras? or is it really, as the post-positivists say, “everything will do”?

These are not all interesting questions related to astrology. who will answer them? Wait and see...

Literature

 

1. Feinberg E. L. Two cultures. intuition and logic in art and science. - M .: Nauka, 1992; Fryazino: Vek-2, 2004.

2. Ginzburg V. L. About science, about oneself and about others. - 3rd ed. - M .: Fizmatlit, 2004.

3. Borzenko IM, Kuvakin VA, Kudishina AA Humanity of man. Foundations of modern humanism. - M .: Ros. humanistic society (RGO), 2005; Secular Union: Almanac. - M .: RGO, 2007, no. 6.

4. Kruglyakov EP Scientists from the big road. - M .: Nauka, 2001.

5. Kruglyakov EP Scientists from the high road -2. - M .: Nauka, 2005.

6. In defense of science. Bulletin 1. - Moscow: Nauka, 2006.

7. Common Sense: Journal. - M .: RGO, 1997-2006, No. 1-41.

 

Astrology is the science of how the stars and other celestial bodies affect a person's life, his character, actions and future. Researchers have established that mankind already used astrology at least five thousand years ago in the territory of Ancient Mesopotamia, but there are suggestions that astrological knowledge is much more years old. Modern scientists do not want to take the word of ancient knowledge and try to set up experiments that are designed to check whether horoscopes and other astrological predictions really work, and, finally, finally decide whether astrology is a pseudoscience or a real underestimated scientific discipline.

The most famous experiment to test astrology is the study of Michel Gauquelin, who was himself an astrologer, but after many years of practice decided to find out with the help of statistics whether astrology is really effective. To do this, he selected more than two thousand athletes from various fields of sports and conducted a study of the dependence of their achievements on the position of the planet Mars at the time of their birth. In the 1950s, he published a book in which he described his experiment and hypothesized that outstanding athletes are born more often when Mars is in one of two positions in the sky.

However, verification of the experiment by other scientists found that Gauquelin turned out to be unfair when choosing athletes and adjusted the results to fit his theory. Subsequent rechecking and new more accurate statistical analyzes showed the complete inconsistency of the hypothesis. The position of Mars in the sky in the zodiacal constellations at the time of birth does not in any way affect a person's athletic performance.

Interestingly, the defenders of astrology continue to cite Gauquelin's experiment as evidence, keeping silent about its subsequent refutation.

Another popular experiment showing the inconsistency of horoscopes was conducted in the late 1940s by psychologist Bertram Forer. He conducted a personality test among the students, but instead of the results, he handed them random texts taken from newspaper horoscopes. After that, he asked the students to rate how well the results of the "sham" test describe their personality. Students rated more than 80% coincidence in the results.

The experiment confirmed a previously known effect, called the Barnum effect after the famous American magician. The essence of the effect is that people find coincidences in a vague generalized description, which, they believe, was created especially for them by authority figures. Thus, people tend to find coincidences in horoscopes, even if they are absent there. This explains the widespread popularity of horoscopes and astrology in general.

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Very interesting experiments, which turned out to be a tangible blow to astrologers of all stripes, were the studies of the so-called astrological twins. These are children who were born almost simultaneously, with an interval of no more than four minutes. According to astrology, such people will have the same personalities, the same health problems and even the same destinies.

 

In 1958, scientists began an experiment on the study of astrological twins in order to find evidence or refutations that astrology has the right to be considered a science.

The experiment continues to the present time, more than two thousand people, who are twins, participate in it. Scientists analyze the character, health status, abilities, marital status, profession and about a hundred more parameters of the life of these people.

The result of the study is quite expected: no significant coincidences between the fates of the twins were found. Gemini grows up as people with different interests, abilities and characters, as if, according to astrologers, they were born under different constellations.

It is interesting that a real astrologer Jeffrey Dean participated in the experiment, who hoped to prove that astrology works, and as a result he lost faith in his "profession".

This experiment baffles any defender of astrology when it is difficult to argue with the results.

In 2009, Indian astrophysicist Jayant Narlikar offered twenty-seven leading astrologers and one whole astrological institute the so-called "natal" charts for schoolchildren, which included birth information necessary for drawing up horoscopes and other astrological predictions. Among the schoolchildren, whose cards were presented, there were both outstanding pupils-prodigies and children with mental retardation. All that was required of astrologers was, on the basis of natal charts, to predict which of the schoolchildren was a prodigy and who was mentally retarded. All twenty-seven astrologers and one astrological institute could not predict, but even guess what was required with a satisfactory percentage of coincidences.

So science received another experimental proof of the inconsistency of horoscopes. Well, the astrological community, of course, blamed everything on the fact that the wrong astrologers participated in the experiment.

In 1971, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, USA, Bernard Silverman decided to check such a popular component of horoscopes as the compatibility of spouses by the signs of the zodiac. He collected birth data for almost three and a half thousand couples, among which were both happy married and divorced couples. Then he offered professional astrologers to predict the fate of marriage on the basis of the same "natal" information. None of the astrologers was able to find out which couple ended up being happy and which one was divorced.

Which proves once again that planning happiness in marriage according to a horoscope can be not only a waste of time, but even a mistake.

Richard McFaul and John McGrew of Indiana University collected six of the world's most famous astrologers in 1990, recommended by the respected Federation of Astrologers. These astrologers were asked to compile a horoscope for random people, but beforehand these same people provided all the data required by astrologers (including even photographs). For the purity of the experiment, people who provided comprehensive information about themselves did not know that a horoscope was being written for them. It would seem that astrologers had everything they needed to draw up a horoscope - after all, they themselves chose the information they needed. But here, too, they failed. The compiled horoscopes, fortunately or unfortunately, did not come true.

The Federation of Astrologers, trying to avoid shame, justified itself by the fact that predictions do not always come true.

In addition, hundreds more experiments were carried out to determine the reliability of astrological data. For example, astrological forecasts were checked for more than three hundred cases of suicide in New York (Michelsen, Russell et al., 1969-1973), according to the dependence of professions on the location of the Sun in any zodiacal constellation (Culver, 1979, Van Dawsen, 1976), by the coincidence of various personality traits from the time of birth (Silverman, Whitmer, 1974, Dalen, 1975, Pellegrini, 1973), by the dependence of the type of character - introvert or extrovert - on astrological factors (Jackson, 1979) and by many other parameters.

No research in the past seventy-five years has produced any meaningful results about the seriousness of astrological predictions.

In Russia, the rampant astrology is on a huge scale and, in general, is not questioned by anyone.

Boris N. Yeltsin had a personal astrologer on his staff - Major General Georgy Rogozin. He compiled horoscopes for the president and those close to him, participated in political decision-making, informing the country's leadership that the stars prophesy, lectured on astrology and witchcraft at the Ministry of Defense and the medical unit, and also predicted, for example, that in 1999 a thermonuclear war.

Another equally famous astrologer, Pavel Globa, who is still composing horoscopes with his wife, also foreshadowed shocking events based on the movement of heavenly bodies. Even before the collapse of the USSR in the late 80s, he said that the stars promised Gorbachev's departure in 1996, a meeting with aliens in 2003, the destruction of Kiev in 2008, the birth of the Great Ruler in 1999, the beginning of the Third World War in 2002, and so on. Pavel Globa explains the unfulfilled predictions by the fact that by the power of his universal mind he averted trouble from the peaceful inhabitants of the planet.

The third famous charlatan, Grigory Grabovoi, went so far in his promises that he went to jail.

Looking at Russian would-be astrologers and seeing how unsuccessfully they point a finger at the sky, an intelligent person realizes that in this case there is no need to set up an experiment.

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So, in connection with the above, we can assume that the experiments set up to test astrology for honesty have justified their costs. Astrology is really just an ancient delusion that only survives, feeding on the gullibility and ignorance of people who believe in it. The Greek orator Mark Thulius Cicero said back in the 1st century BC that there is no content in astrology. And the Byzantine princess Anna Komnina in the XII century openly called astrology a pseudoscience.

But mankind tends to follow the lead of superstitions and imaginary miracles, so experiments will probably continue for a very long time.

Remember that all images are taken from Google - authorship is determined there in the same way. Illegal copying of text is, as always, prosecuted, suppressed, well, you know ...

What is astrology? "This is a teaching about the influence of celestial bodies on the earthly world and man, in particular on his temperament, character, deeds and destiny." We found such a definition in the Big Encyclopedic Dictionary. But this is only the first part of it, the second says that astrology allows you to predict the future, and then doubts begin: who said this and why we should trust this person, given that science itself denies the effectiveness of all astrological methods and qualifies astrology as a pseudoscience ? To answer all these and many other questions, first of all it is necessary to turn to the history of astrology itself and trace the main stages of its development. What we will do now.

The history of mysterious astrology

Astrology was born a long time ago. Even the ancient Roman politician Cicero, who lived in the first half of the 1st century. BC, in his first book noted that the Chaldeans (astrologers) kept records of star charts for 370 thousand years, and according to his contemporary - the Greek historian Diodorus of Siculus - their observations covered a period of 473 thousand years. By the way, not every modern science can boast of such a rich history at the moment. But what did astrology study at that time?

At the initial stage of its development, astrology dealt with omens of events of public interest: the ancient priests-astrologers could predict a good or bad harvest this year, how everything will end: war or peace, etc.

“The Sumerians and Babylonians believed that the will of the gods in relation to man and his deeds can be recognized by observing the movement of stars and planets. Therefore, they recorded their observations on tablets and interpreted them not from an astronomical, but from a magical point of view, "- much later (in the 19th century) wrote the British orientalist Wallis Budge.

Note that astrology, long before the birth of Cicero and Diodorus of Siculus, also studied the signs of the zodiac. For example, among the ancient Egyptians, the human body was divided into 36 parts (the entire zodiacal belt was divided into the same number of parts), each of which was under the auspices of a certain group of stars, and a separate horoscope was drawn up for it. Such patterns can be found on the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs. The connection of stars with parts of the human body was also recognized in other countries of the East - in Persia, India, China, Japan, although the number of constellations for different peoples differed markedly.

Today astrology has reached its maximum development, having made a colossal path from the magical teaching about the influence of celestial bodies on man and the earthly world to a craft that makes forecasts for business. Whether it is worth trusting them, we will understand below.

Oh, these predictions ...

Astrologers are legendary about the cunning and resourcefulness of astrologers. One of them tells about Almansor - the court astrologer of the French king Louis XI. Once Almansor predicted the imminent death of the royal mistress Marguerite de Sassenage. As if by magic, a week later the young and blooming woman actually died of an unknown disease. The angry king secretly from the astrologer ordered to throw him out of the window.

But Almansor was far from stupid. He did not want to die at all, and he decided to go for a trick.

Accompanied by guards, he passed by Louis, who asked if the astrologer knew how much time he had left to live. Almansor immediately understood what was the matter, and replied that he would die three days before the king. Louis was very frightened and ordered his servants to carefully protect the astrologer until the end of his days and make sure that he did not need anything.

Astrologers, possessing some kind of mysterious knowledge, can easily deceive their listeners, telling them only that part of the truth that they themselves consider necessary.

History knows many examples when the predictions of stellar specialists came true only because they could not fail to come true. A direct example of this is Karl Krafft - the personal astrologer of Adolf Hitler himself. It turns out that the Fuehrer ordered to make a forecast for the development of events in Germany from 1937 to 1945. It, in particular, said: “... 1939 will go down in the history of mankind as the beginning of one of the most destructive wars, and heavy trials will fall on the shoulders of the German people. The year 1945 will be especially difficult, but victory is expected in August. "

 

Only who will win, the cunning astrologer forgot to mention. As it turned out, it didn't matter.

The case of the German Fuehrer is far from an exception. Often, powerful monarchs, seeking to expand their possessions, waged continuous wars among themselves. Astrology at such moments enjoyed the greatest popularity: astronomical predictions were made, which were trusted by the conquerors. And it turns out, in vain? Most experts from other scientific fields say "Yes" with confidence.

Why not trust astrologers and their predictions?

In 1975, 186 of the world's leading scientists, including 18 Nobel laureates, issued a statement "Objections to Astrology."

They expressed their concern about the fact that the media willingly print astrological predictions on the pages of their publications: "Aquarius, today you are in trouble, so try not to leave your house" or "Taurus, you will have a quarrel with your loved one," and most (yes , dear readers, it is the majority) who believe in such horoscopes. Confirmation of this is the data of the National Science Foundation, which is headquartered in the United States. Experts of this agency classify the belief in astrology as one of the most common pseudoscientific misconceptions among Americans. By the way, the situation is the same in Russia. In order to protect citizens from deception, a special organization has been created in our country, the Commission for Combating Pseudoscience and Falsification of Scientific Research under the Presidium of the Russian Academy of Sciences. One of its tasks is to publicly criticize astrology as a pseudoscience.

But why are scientists opposed to astrology?

The belief that astrology is a pseudoscience did not come about for nothing. It is based on the fact that the methodology of astrology is incompatible with modern scientific methodology. Modern scholars classify astrology as superstition, pseudoscientific teachings, and a kind of divination magic. And in such a situation, the astrologers themselves are to blame, who often speculate on problems that have not yet been fully investigated by science. However, like all teachings, astrology also has supporters.

 

And I believe astrologers!

Several centuries ago, the famous priest, opponent of astrology, John Butler of Lichtburg, wanted to eradicate all astrologers in England. However, he did not call people to hatred and shout slogans in the street. He decided to get to know the enemy by sight, namely, to familiarize himself with the literature on the subject.

The monk admitted that he was wrong and said: “… several years ago I was also one of the enemies of this noble science, with which I fought blindly, not knowing myself with what, until I attempted to read a few lines of this subject soberly. And despite the fact that this was done with the most serious intentions of finding a convenient excuse to pour mud on her, I got the opportunity to understand what I was dealing with, and this aroused in me respect for her gray hair, which I so unfairly and ignorantly despised ... And thus, studying it, I discovered that following theology, nothing brings me closer to understanding God than the sacred science of astrology about the great work of nature. "

John Butler is also supported by modern supporters of pseudoscientific theories, believing that astrology has every chance of becoming a science. For example, in 2000, the University Grants Commission and the Indian Ministry of Human Resources Development decided to introduce a course in Vedic Astrology in Indian universities. Without hesitation, they sent out letters, offering grants to universities in the amount of 1.5 million rupees for opening branches with the teaching of this very "Vedic astrology". By the way, 35 universities responded to the proposal. The Indian scientific community, of course, turned its attention to this and immediately expressed its protest against attempts to give scientific status to pseudoscience.

Despite this, today a number of Indian universities still have departments and degrees in Jyotish, the astrology of Hinduism.

Is astrology a pseudoscience after all?

No experiment so far has been able to prove the truth of astrology's claims. Take, for example, a study that began in 1958 and continues to this day. During this long time, scientists have followed the fate of more than 2,000 people, the so-called "temporary twins", children born with an interval of about 4 minutes on average. According to astrology, such people should be close in profession, mind, habits, etc. Meanwhile, when they matured, no similarities were found between them. These people turned out to be as different from each other as those who were born at different times under different signs of the zodiac.

To believe astrologers or not is a purely individual matter. However, wanting to know your future, do not forget, dear readers, that it is easy to change. After all, the fate of a person depends only on himself and on no one else.

Before trading on the basis of astrologers' data, I advise you to read the descriptions of the experiments and draw a conclusion.

The scientific approach was demonstrated by the work of Alan Smithers in 1984. He took the UK census data and selected a random sample of people from there, after which he built the distribution of the zodiac signs by profession. Sometimes it turned out that in some profession a certain sign prevailed: for example, Sagittarius turned out to be miners a little more often, and Gemini turned out to be journalists and secretaries. Then he asked 15 astrologers to show which professions for which sign would prevail. Astrologers showed the results randomly, converging on only 10 professions, of which only one - journalism - were able to indicate the correct sign. I wonder what sign corresponds to the profession of an astrologer?

In 1985, the authoritative scientific journal Nature published the work of Sean Carlson "The Double Blind Test in Astrology", which became known as the "Carlson Experiment". Its essence was that the scientist gathered a group of several dozen of the most respected astrologers in the United States, who in advance made a natal chart for 116 subjects.

At the same time, these subjects passed the psychological profile test. After that, each astrologer was offered a natal chart of the subject and three profiles, among which one was correct.

Carlson suggested that astrologers will indicate the correct answer with a 33% probability, that is, they will simply guess. Astrologers have argued that the probability will be "at least 50%." As a result, Carlson's hypothesis was fully confirmed, and astrologers simply could not say which person the horoscope belongs to. Let us remind you that “the best of the best” were tested! It turns out that even the best astrologer is not good enough to draw up the correct horoscope, corresponding to a person's personality.

William Herschel discovered Uranus in 1781. Adams and Le Verrier discovered Neptune in 1846. Clyde Tombaugh discovered Pluto in 1930. In 2006, astronomers excluded Pluto from the planets, and recently announced a possible new planet. Those. astrology was built on the same principles, and then new planets appear and what to do?

She (astrology) is not at all progressive and has hardly changed positions since the time of Ptolemy. It also has a number of internal problems that it cannot cope with (like the precession of the equinox - the equinox point slowly moves along the constellations, confusing everything in general). The development of psychology in the 19th century explained many problems in human behavior, which was formerly the domain of astrology.

In the spring of 2009, a new experimental work related to astrology was published. Can astrologers learn about the characteristics of people by the position of stars and planets at the time of their birth? Jayant Narlikar (Indian astrophysicist) and his colleagues have collected information about the time and place of birth of hundreds of schoolchildren with certified academic achievements and hundreds of students in "special" schools for children with intellectual disabilities. Using natal (birth) horoscopes, astrologers tried to tell which of the students were outstanding and which were retarded. The study involved 27 astrologers and one astrological institute. Each astrologer received the data of 40 children, the institute - 200 children. All astrologers who took part in the study failed without exception. Neither the entire astrological institute nor individual astrologers have demonstrated better results than those that could be obtained by making decisions at random.

For me, astrological forecasts have long been of no interest: it seemed that everything that was possible had been said on this topic, and the overwhelming majority of people already understood any lack of common sense in them. But the publication of a video interview with Tamara Globa prompted me to conduct another analysis of the activities of astrologers from a scientific point of view.

Sensation: there will be a drought in the summer

In the forecasts made by Globa, she only in one place mentioned celestial bodies, luminaries and signs of the zodiac. Moreover, this mention was general: the sign of the zodiac is important for a person. The published version of the video interview did not include Globa's statements that, they say, there were too many Streltsov in the leadership of the USSR, and Nikita Khrushchev was Aries - and therefore he was so charismatic, knocking his boot at the UN ...

All forecasts made by Tamara Globa are actually the speech of either a political or an economic expert. And in some places he is well versed in the situation.

Well, how can one not say in a conversation about current events that 2015 will be difficult both financially and politically? How not to say that in the coming years Russia will be "shaken"? How not to say that Russia is finally "on its way"?

She also mentioned natural disasters. Roughly speaking, she replied that floods can be expected at the end of winter (it was said about water, soil acidification and flooding), that in summer drought, crop problems, favorable conditions for the development of bark beetles and locusts can be expected, and closer to autumn there can be forest fires ...

Very valuable and, most importantly, "unexpected" information, isn't it?

Thus, we will talk in this text about astrology in general, although once again we will note that until now I thought that astrological predictions were no longer of interest.

Planets, Moon and Sun. And the stars?

Astrologers in their predictions emphasize that celestial bodies allegedly have an influence on a person and this makes it possible to predict the future by how celestial bodies move and are located in the sky and relative to each other. Let me show that this statement contradicts modern physics.

To begin with, from among the physical interactions known to science (gravitational, electromagnetic, strong and weak) for planets and stars in relation to the Earth, we can only talk about gravitational interaction. "The rest of the fields, streams of particles and radiation from stars and planets are so weak in the vicinity of the Earth that their registration even with sensitive modern devices - much more sensitive than the organism of a living creature - requires considerable effort", - emphasizes in his book Astrology and Science »Senior Researcher of the State Astronomical Institute named after P.K. Sternberg Moscow State University Vladimir Surdin.

In this book, the scientist gives a table that indicates the relative influences of the planets, the Moon and the Sun on the Earth, calculated for the moment of the closest approach of our planet with these objects. These parameters are easily deduced from Newton's law of universal gravitation, which is passed in school. The table is sorted in descending order of this influence; the influence of the Sun is taken as a unit.

Moon - 2.1

Sun - 1.00

Venus - 0.00011

Jupiter - 0.000013

Mars - 0.0000026

Mercury - 0.00000073

Saturn - 0.00000045

Uranium - 0.0000000072

Neptune - 0.0000000021

Pluto (although it has been "demoted" from the planets for eight years already) - 0.00000000000014

Let's give the floor to Vladimir Surdin: “An impressive number of zeros are striking. Here is a clear confirmation that the influence of the planets is scanty. "

“In the most favorable circumstances, at the moment of the ideal parade of the planets, when they all lined up together with the Earth, their total influence on the Earth is almost 10 thousand times weaker than the solar one and 20 thousand times weaker than the lunar one,” the scientist adds. - And almost all of this influence is exerted by Venus. The contribution of other planets is less than 20%. So, in fact, only Venus has a direct gravitational effect on the Earth. The Earth approaches it every 19.5 months on average. There is no connection with the annual zodiacal cycle ”.

To calculate the number of zeros in the "influence" of stars on the Earth, I suggest the readers on their own. Let me just remind you that the closest star to the Sun is at a distance of four light years, which is 9.5x1012 km, or 9 460 730 472 580 800 m, and that gravity is inversely proportional to the square of the distance.

Related: Astrology Find Love

The zodiac is not real

But even though the stars are monstrously far from us, they, according to astrologers, affect a person and his fate. The term “zodiac” is used to assess the impact. In astronomy, this word means a part of the celestial sphere, a kind of belt along which the Sun moves throughout the year. In astrology, this word means the sequence of the location of the areas into which the star belt is divided. (True, Tamara Globa said in an interview something completely unexpected: "The zodiac is the position of the sun, and the sun is the consciousness of a person.")

Below are the signs of the zodiac and the dates of these signs according to how astrologers use them.

Aries: March 21 - April 20

Taurus: April 21 - May 21

Gemini: May 22 - June 21

Cancer: June 22 - July 22

Leo: July 23 - August 23

Virgo: August 24 - September 22

Libra: September 23 - October 22 Scorpio: October 23 - November 21

Sagittarius: November 22 - December 21

Capricorn: December 22 - January 20

Aquarius: January 21 - February 19

Pisces: February 20 - March 20

And the following list contains the constellations and periods when the Sun will be in these constellations in 2015.

Capricorn: January 19 - February 16

Aquarius: February 16 - March 12

Pisces: March 12 - April 18

Aries: April 18 - May 14

Taurus: May 14 - June 21

Gemini: June 21 - July 20

Cancer: July 20 - August 10

Leo: August 10 - September 16

Virgo: September 16 - October 31

Libra: October 31 - November 23

Scorpio: November 23 - November 30

Ophiuchus: November 30 - December 18

Sagittarius: December 18 - January 19

What do we really see? Firstly, that the signs through which the Sun passes are actually 13. Secondly, that the Sun is not in each of them for 30 days: somewhere more (as in the case of Virgo), but somewhere significantly less (as is the case with Scorpio). That is, malicious, cunning and calculating people, which astrologers consider all Scorpios, should not be born all November, but only one week - from November 23 to 30. And most of November, people with a balanced character are born - Libra, which, according to astrologers, should be born in October.

Astrology is for independent media!

Once I had a chance to talk with representatives of an astrological university. (Yes, yes, there are some in Russia! Fortunately, they do not have any accreditation with the Ministry of Education and Science, but at the same time they take a rather big tuition fee from their students, who seriously think that they are getting a second higher education). To remarks about the existence of the thirteenth sign in the form of Ophiuchus ignored by astrologers and that the real movement of the Sun by dates and does not lie close to the astrological zodiac, the following was said: "The zodiac is one thing, and the movement of the Sun is another." When asked why the zodiac was divided into 12 parts, and not into, say, 20, 30 or even 88 (according to the number of constellations in the whole sky), the answer followed in the style of "smart people decided so long ago." Objections to the remarks that the same smart people could have given the constellations other names for a long time (just as Ursa Major could be called simply the Bucket), the answer was already in the style of "the fool himself": this is something mysterious, which your science cannot explain maybe we, astrologers, do not explain this, but simply use it.

The question that scientists do not know anything was well analyzed in the letter of the Nobel laureate Vitaly Ginzburg to the general director of OJSC “Editorial office of the newspaper“ Izvestia ”Peter Godlevsky in 2005. Here is an excerpt from this letter (quoted from the book by VG Surdin "Astrology and Science"):

“Astrological forecasts, unfortunately, are published not only by Izvestia, and I know the usual motive in defense of such publications: allegedly what pseudoscience is is not clear in advance, and who proved that astrology is a pseudoscience, and in general such publications are supposedly only useful. I think this is ignorance or shameless demagoguery.

To substantiate this statement, it is necessary to provide some explanations.

1. Astrology is a pseudoscience at the present time, but once, before Galileo and Kepler, it was not, that is, the statement about its pseudoscience is, so to speak, a historical category. The same, by the way, applies to many other things, for example, alchemy, the concept of caloric, etc. But what does this have to do with today?

2. We consider pseudoscience what is contrary to the reliable scientific knowledge of today. So, astrology is wrong, firstly, because now the forces with which the planets act on the Earth are well known, and it is clear that these forces are so small that they cannot influence the fate of people. Secondly, numerous statistical observations were carried out, from which it is clear that the position of the planets does not have any effect on the fate of people.

3. Astrological forecasts, as you can see on Izvestia's own pages, are extremely meaningless and absurd. To think that such things are innocent, I see no reason. Most of the readers of this chatter, of course, do not believe, but those who do, can suffer significant losses. "

Ultimately, this email received the following response:

“Dear Vitaly Lazarevich!

I share your views on astrology. I handed over all the letters to the editor-in-chief of Izvestia, Vladimir Borodin. In his opinion, astrological forecasts in the newspaper may take place.

According to the Charter of the joint-stock company “Editorial office of the newspaper“ Izvestia ”, the editor-in-chief has the right to determine the content of the newspaper himself. Thus, the creative independence of the editorial office is guaranteed.

In this regard, I cannot fulfill your request - to remove astrological forecasts from the pages of the publication.

October 27, 2005

General Director of OJSC "Editorial office of the newspaper" Izvestia "Petr Godlevsky"

We can only complain that the video interview with Tamara Globa will be seen by hundreds of thousands of people, and this text will be read by only a few thousand ...

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❂ Imagine experiencing higher levels of self-consciousness, now finally having a "direct-shortcut" so quickly aligning with our higher-selves.

❂ Finally unlocking the door to welcoming in an abundance of love, health, and wealth we've always dreamed for ourselves in this lifetime.