Exclusively for the "Israeli Skeptic" - in preparation for the alignment of all the planets, the sun and the moon in one line and the fear among the Israelis of earthquakes, we bring you the article that explains what astrologers really know
Over two thousand years ago, our ancestors used astrology in every area of their lives. They could predict the seasons, the rising and setting of the sun, and the cycle of the moon. It was their version of astronomy, and it worked well. In the velvet black sky of the ancient world, you could lift your head and see thousands of stars. Some have seen unique examples of the way the brightest stars are arranged: a lion here, a fish there. This is how the zodiac signs were created, from the imagination of the viewers. Some of them believed that the way the stars were arranged could help them predict the celestial events that would happen in the next day, week, month, etc.
Today astrology has changed. We no longer use it to predict the position of stars or planets. Astronomy exists for this purpose. Instead, many believe that the position of the sun, moon, and planets affect their daily lives, and through this knowledge, they can predict and change the future. Entire columns in newspapers are devoted to astrology, books on every astrological sign, predictions for the coming year, have turned astrology into a multi-million dollar business.
There is just one small problem. Astrology is a scam. The astrologers do not know what they are talking about. But even so, people spend a lot of money hoping to know what their future holds. Why? Carl Sagan believed that it was probably poor education.
The first problem is with the simple question "How do the heavenly bodies affect our day-to-day life?" In what way can the position of the planets change the way we live? Well, some would say that the gravitational pull of the planets affects our way of thinking or something like that. The problem is that the gravitational force that the heavenly bodies have on any objects that are on the surface of the earth are very small. The Earth pulls us with a force of 9.8 N/Kg. The Moon, on the other hand, exerts a force of 0.0000404 N/Kg. The Sun exerts a force of 0.005949 N/Kg. Pluto reaches 2.924 times ten to the power of minus 14.
Some believe that if the moon can cause tidal waves, then it must be able to affect the human mind. It is doubtful whether the moon can change our mood. The myth that the full moon makes people nervous has no basis in reality. But when it comes to the planets, it is clear that they have no influence. The power of the waves decreases by the third power of the distance. Pluto's influence is 2.41 times ten to the 13th power less than that of the Moon.
Second, the astrologers don't even agree with each other. For example, when astrology was first invented only 5 planets were known. Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. (Of course the Earth too but they didn't know it was a planet) but today three more planets are known: Uranus, Neptune and Pluto. Some astrologers use these planets. others don't. How can the predictions of these two types of astrologers be correct if they do not use the same data?
Most people read their horoscope in the morning newspaper. But have you ever tried to compare two predictions, from different newspapers, about people of the same fortune, and on the same day? There is no match, not even in the general content. If astrology really works, every newspaper will give exactly the same prediction, at least approximately, as is the case with the weather forecast.
Third, astrology is out of date. Today, astrologers use the same map (except for the planets) that astrologers used two thousand years ago. The problem is that the axis of rotation of the earth around itself, also rotates in a cycle of approximately 25 thousand years (a movement known as the movement of nakifah). This means that the zodiac signs are no longer arranged in the same way. All zodiac signs are now about a month away from their original position, because they have moved 15 degrees over the last two thousand years, so if you are a Sagittarius, you are almost certainly a Scorpio.
Fourth, the earth is not at the center of the world. True, this is clear and self-evident, but for some reason, astrologers have not changed the data on which they work. They still make their maps, from the mathematical assumption that the earth is at the center of the universe.
Fifth, the zodiac signs - those constellations do not exist in reality. The way the stars appear in the sky (bull or fish) has no meaning in reality. The galaxies we see are not next to each other, they are sometimes tens or hundreds of light years away (thousands of trillions of kilometers). The same combination of stars (or a different combination of stars from two adjacent signs) were given completely different names in Chinese astrology (everyone sees what they want, see Rorscharch test entry).
Sixth, the solar system is made up of thousands of different objects. There are for example thousands of asteroids, hundreds of comets and dozens of moons. But the astrologers only refer to the 5 (or 8) planets, the sun and the moon. Why is Pluto, a small planet billions of kilometers away, more important than Ganymede, a moon orbiting Jupiter that is larger than Pluto and much closer? It is clear that if the astrologers had to track thousands of bodies in the solar system, their calculations would be so complicated that their task would be impossible. Seventh, astrologers do not follow star charts precisely. Do you know that the sun passes through 13 systems and not 12? Thus there should be 13 astrological signs. The 13th sign known since ancient times is Ophiucius (the bearer of the serpent). This is not a small star system. It is three times larger than a scorpion. Furthermore, not all zodiac signs are the same size. Leo is one and a half times longer than Aquarius. The Sun stays 42 days in Virgo, but only 7 days in Scorpio, but astrologers have only 12 signs, and each is the same size as the others. With all the inconsistencies we have discussed so far, there seem to be two heavens - the real sky above our heads and the sky of the astrologers.
Eighth, the astrologers cannot even make good predictions. They have been tested over and over and failed every time. For example, seven women were given an astrological profile performed by an astrologer who claimed they would recognize at least 75 percent of their profile. A copy of all seven texts (without the signs to whom each profile belongs) was given to each of the women. They were asked to mark for each profile on a scale between zero and one hundred percent. In theory, each of the women was supposed to mark 75 percent for her profile and lower marks for the others. But the women gave each profile 21 to 40 percent, noting that none were particularly accurate. An exception was one of the women who gave a score of 79 percent - to another woman's profile. And this is just to show you that it is easy for you to recognize yourself in an astrological profile when you know it is yours, but it is very difficult to separate them from other profiles. There is a simple reason for this - the Hareful. Writing vague predictions allows them to fit a large number of situations. And that's not the only trick astrologers use to make their predictions ring true. I will give an example of an astrological forecast and show what makes them fake.
* There will be ups and downs in the economy
* A major earthquake will occur in San Francisco
* A great leader will fall
* The war will increase.
* The war will fade.
* The achievements of genetic engineering will cause anxiety to many people.
Explanation: the economy always has ups and downs (and what happened in April 2000 on the Nasdaq describes exactly that (AB); as for the San Francisco earthquake: everyone expects an earthquake to happen at some point. Just make that prediction every year, and whenever You're right. A great leader is beautiful - this is suitable for a lot of possibilities in a lot of places. As for predictions about the escalation of the war or its relaxation - you just have to follow the deaf in world politics and the chances of a good prediction are great. Whereas, as for the achievements of genetic engineering that cause concern for many, this has been happening for many years and will continue to worry many.
So it's easy to see why you shouldn't believe in astrology. Planets do not affect our lives, astrologers do not agree with each other, cannot predict the future and use tricks to fool us into believing that they do. Throw away those newspaper columns. Remember - the best way to predict the future is to be attentive to what is happening in the present. You don't need astrologers for that.
(And a later addendum: no astrologer predicted the fall of the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Or maybe this is a late ignition of the alignment of the stars in May of that year?)
21 תגובות
Weizmann:
Einstein did deny all the false claims that the religious claim against him.
Here are some examples of what he said on the matter:
It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world as far as our science can reveal it. [Albert Einstein, 1954, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press]
The idea of a personal God is an anthropological concept which I am unable to take seriously. [Albert Einstein, letter to Hoffman and Dukas, 1946]
If this being is omnipotent, then every occurrence, including every human action, every human thought, and every human feeling and aspiration is also His work; how is it possible to think of holding men responsible for their deeds and thoughts before such an almighty being? In giving out punishment and rewards He would to a certain extent be passing judgment on Himself. How can this be combined with the goodness and righteousness ascribed to Him? [Albert Einstein, Out of My Later Years]
The religious feeling engendered by experiencing the logical comprehensibility of profound interrelations is of a somewhat different sort from the feeling that one usually calls religious. It is more a feeling of awe at the scheme that is manifested in the material universe. It does not lead us to take the step of fashioning a god-like being in our own image-a personage who makes demands of us and who takes an interest in us as individuals. There is in this neither a will nor a goal, nor a must, but only sheer being. For this reason, people of our type see in morality a purely human matter, albeit the most important in the human sphere. [Albert Einstein, from Albert Einstein: The Human Side, edited by Helen Dukas and Banesh Hoffman, Princeton University Press, pp 69-70]
In general, I suggest that you do not explain to us how to apply a scientific approach.
Truth and lies should not be treated the same way and astrology has been proven false.
If you can demonstrate the claim that it works, you're welcome to go get James Randi a million dollars. http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html
If you succeed - please report to us and if you don't try because you know what the result will be then please let us know as well.
... as if he denied them all... let's face it... you said... I'm really not sure that he did,
And it really seems to me that Einstein meant every word. From such an intuition. And no, I cannot prove what that intuition is with scientific tools. It is a mysterious gift that we all have. What fun are we having??? No ??
And regarding the sentence that says that an appeal to authority is a bias - huh? So what ? You also send me to read other authorities, on other sites. And you are also appropriating these or other matters in order to express your opinion. It's OK. It is legitimate.
In any case, distinguished gentlemen and scholars,
I think that as humans and especially as scientists, we should be equipped with the glasses of humility and true openness to the mysteries that exist in the universe. Not all the answers are in our hands, there is still much to explore and all the ways are legitimate, as long as we do not harm the human soul. Astrology, astronomy, biology, Chinese medicine, conventional, all these are a wide variety of preoccupations of the person trying with all his might to understand what the hell is going on here and why?
There is room for everyone! And you need to find the common denominator! For humanity! Not for one gender or another! For the future of humanity on earth!!!
From the bottom of my heart, truly, I bless you all, all of us,
In the joy of discovery, in curiosity, in the openness of the heart, and in mutual participation in this wonderful creation called - the life of a person on earth.
Bless you, and bless your work!!!
... as if he denied them all... let's face it... you said... I'm really not sure that he did,
And it really seems to me that Einstein meant every word. From such an intuition. And no, I cannot prove what that intuition is with scientific tools. It is a mysterious gift that we all have. What fun are we having??? No ??
And regarding the sentence that says that an appeal to authority is a bias - huh? So what ? You also send me to read other authorities, on other sites. And you are also appropriating these or other matters in order to express your opinion. It's OK. It is legitimate.
In any case, distinguished gentlemen and scholars,
I think that as humans and especially as scientists, we should be equipped with the glasses of humility and true openness to the mysteries that exist in the universe. Not all the answers are in our hands, there is still much to explore and all the ways are legitimate, as long as we do not harm the human soul. Astrology, astronomy, biology, Chinese medicine, conventional, all these are a wide variety of preoccupations of the person trying with all his might to understand what the hell is going on here and why?
There is room for everyone! And you need to find the common denominator! For humanity! Not for one gender or another! For the future of humanity on earth!!!
From the bottom of my heart, truly, I bless you all, all of us,
In the joy of discovery, in curiosity, in the openness of the heart, and in mutual participation in this wonderful creation called - the life of a person on earth. Bless you, and bless your work!!!
Weizmann:
Charlatanism is to put astronomers and astrologers as believers of the same type who simply believe in different things.
Nevertheless - there is a difference between the belief in something that has never been disproved (despite the many opportunities to disprove it) and the belief in something that has been disproved in Nablus and the Arabs.
Weizmann,
The main point of the professor's statement you quoted was intended to solve all kinds of perplexing questions.
What he is saying is that science can describe what has happened until today when this or that experiment was carried out, the assumption that the same results will be obtained in the future under the same conditions - according to him, is faith. OK….
This does not mean at all that what until today has not proven itself to be true (ie, for example, the connection between the position of the planet Saturn in the sky and the economic situation of Venezuela) will suddenly become scientific and perhaps true.
Moreover, even if a connection has been found in the past between these two seemingly independent things, it does not mean that it is interesting or that they actually affect each other. Thus, for example, the correlation between the decreasing number of pirates and global warming does not indicate that the decrease in their number causes global warming.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flying_Spaghetti_Monster#Pirates_and_global_warming
Astrology to this day has not been able to show a clear connection between its predictions and reality and certainly has not been able to show any logical reason that such a connection is indeed logical and in this respect has not yet passed the criterion that would earn it the nickname "science".
Anyway,
I don't know the extent of your knowledge in astrophysics in particular or in science in general, but it is based on much more than blind faith and superstitions. Among other things, this means that the questions a scientist deals with every day are much more mundane than how strong his faith is and how much he marvels.
I promise you that when a physicist gets up in the morning and remembers the work he started yesterday, he asks himself how the hell he is going to solve the differential equation he arrived at and not why he believes in... (I actually don't know what he is supposed to believe - you just mentioned that he is a man of faith ).
post Scriptum
I can imagine a charlatan astronomer although in today's scientific system their number is very small.
I would appreciate it if you could describe to me what an aesthetologist looks like who is not a charlatan (beyond the fact that he is a man of faith in ……).
On the contrary, my father, on the contrary.
I per se do not attack science but use it and am influenced by it.
And moreover, recognizes the value of its importance, as an enthusiastic subscriber of the field of astrophysics for years.
What else? I don't make distinctions.
I recognize the fact that our five senses are deceptive, incomplete and certainly not perfect.
Science itself has concluded that the observing scientist influences the outcome of the experiment.
Science itself is able to give answers up to a certain point and nothing more. He is still not able to understand for example
How can one particle appear in two different places? Wonder is in quantum theory.
Astrology was considered in ancient times and since modern times as the mother of all sciences. Because its role is to check the processes of humanity's life from time immemorial. Real astrology does not deal with prophecies but with the development of consciousness of the cycles on earth.
I won't try to convince you because I don't want to convince. There is no need at all to prove who is more right or wrong. I personally find a lot of room in my heart and life to bridge and unite these two teachings, whether you like it or not, the history of humanity since the dawn of time. Astronomers and astrologers { not the charlatans of these two sciences } used to sit together looking at the stars with the same admiration and passion. In this respect, nothing has changed.
Astronomers are people of faith. Astrologers are people of faith.
In order for you to get up in the morning as a scientist, and go to work, you must have faith in your heart. any For, what is that spark of an idea that divides your mind as a scientist to formulate any idea that is scientific and give it a series of mathematical proofs in numbers or graphs? Where did it come from? Every step a thinking scientist takes on earth is motivated by curiosity and passion and faith in his path.
This call of this infinity to explore it, is also shared by astrologers in my opinion.
And her place and honor in their place.
I don't know the professor, but science has proven itself much better than any other method, what's more, astrology has so many holes that it is not at all clear why people believe in it, when it is based on the knowledge that was considered scientific 2000 years ago (Ptolemy). The sky is three-dimensional and not two-dimensional, the earth surrounds the sun, and is not at the center of the universe (nor is the sun) and in general, how can the sky, which is an external factor, affect the character of man? Instead of admitting that you are engaging in baseless nonsense, you try to attack the science that gave you all the wealth and technology that you use to spread your nonsense.
This is what Professor Yehuda Levy said:
The authority of science - science is limited not only in its field but also in its authority. We should check its basics. We do not intend to enter here into the problems of epistemology - the theory of the possibility of clear knowledge - these are endless waters. We will only examine the basics of science assuming that our senses really give us a correct picture of the world. The scientist observes the actions of nature and discovers certain rules in the various phenomena. The rules go through experiments and tests and after their approval they become what is called the law of nature. It was found that the law of nature is nothing more than a statistical list of the behavior of nature. The expectation and hope that the same behavior will continue and persist in the future is nothing more than faith. The fact that a certain body behaved in a certain way and stood the test of thousands of attempts, does not guarantee similar behavior in the future.
So what do you think that we are talking about astrology?
Netzer and Michael,
Both of you are very innocent - her motives as well as the motives of the astrologers, the readers of the stars and the other ignorant people of all kinds for not turning to the examination of the issue are purely economic.
When it is proven that seeing the future is possible and takes place all the time, the world of legal and illegal gambling will change forever - and this is a much better and safer income than those million dollars.
A calculated estagnin will not cut the branch he is sitting on for a one-time profit!
I checked again to be sure.
The James Randi site requires three exams to receive the money.
First, he requires a statement from every person in the academy who will testify that in his opinion the method has scientific proof. The reason is to weed out crazy people. Since it's quite simple to find stupid doctors there are quite a few people who pass this condition even though they don't have any powers. Anyone who can't find any doctor who will testify that he has powers - probably doesn't have powers. (Since there is no requirement for a doctor or a specific organization, but anyone who was or is in the academy can testify and the examinee can go from person to person until he receives such an affidavit and since doctors are not experts in identifying fraudsters, this is not really a difficult requirement.)
Second, he demands an examination with a local skeptic organization in the home town of the possessor of supernatural powers.
Here the examinee is already facing a real test in front of people who are experts in identifying crooks. (Although people were tested all over the world, including Russia, Germany, England, Sweden, etc., but each time by different people)
If the examinee passes this stage, he turns from applicant to claimant
Translated into Hebrew it is something like the difference between a requester and a demander.
After that, if the examinee passed the local exam, another exam will be held with the participation of the website team.
To date, no person has even passed the local exam.
This is despite the fact that there are endless people and TV series that treat aliens as a fait accompli.
Why do you say plane ticket they are willing to contact even if skeptical organizations from the world
They checked fraudsters in Russia, Sweden and the like, check Michael's website...
She is one of three
1. Not interested in proving herself for a million dollars
2. Not sure of the nonsense she says
3. Crooked…
Liora:
All the nonsense of the new age is as old as the age of human stupidity.
All opinions are also prejudices and I have yet to see the person who actually expresses his future opinions.
After all - I offered you a way to make a lot of money and you prefer to talk because you trust the truth in your words so much that you are not willing to risk even the price of a plane ticket for the chance to win a million dollars if they are found to be true.
When a person lies to himself - it is very difficult to convince him.
The fact that astrology is vanity is not a matter of choice or belief, but of fact.
As you can see in the article, there are a lot of things that if only one of them is fulfilled, the astrology falls and there are many of them.
For your information Michael... astrology does not come from the new age, it comes from a much older place and was dealt with by dignitaries such as Newton Galileo Galilei and the list is not short... the fact that the talkers of the new age appropriated astrology for themselves, does not make it new. And as for the prize in question, it is not a challenge that speaks to me. For my part, whoever chooses to think that astrology is nonsense, shame on him.
Prejudice is one of the human phenomena that is the most difficult to deal with, sometimes, to the point of being impossible, and this is reflected in the state of the world in many different contexts. My little…
Liora:
I forgot to mention in the previous comment how to get the prize, so here are all the details:
http://www.randi.org/site/index.php/1m-challenge.html
Liora:
There is a million dollar prize that has been waiting for forty years for whoever can demonstrate even one thing of all the New Age nonsense.
If there is someone who can show that astrology works then they can also build on my prediction that if they do it they will get a million dollars.
I suggest you recommend your favorite astrologer to go there and charge him a hundred thousand dollars (small money!) for the recommendation.
Tell us what happened.
To say that astrology is a scam, sounds like a prejudice. What this or that astrologer predicted yes or no, still does not prove anything, for the simple reason that not everyone who calls himself an astrologer, is indeed worthy of it, on the contrary, there are more unworthy than worthy.
And most importantly, a serious astrologer deals with much deeper and more extensive insights than divination, and by the way, futurism has received academic approval today, provided that it is done by scientists of its kind.
It is useful to know and understand what is being talked about before dismissing.
And beyond that, it's really not important to have it.
This is a science website and whoever writes it should know a little bit that science still can't tell if the sun revolves around the earth or the earth revolves around the sun until a spacecraft or satellite comes out to give us data from outside our solar system. (conjecture)
The font is the same in all the articles on the site.
As for the typos, I occasionally try to look for them, they are due to blind typing. I would love to receive samples and will fix it immediately.
What numbers did you mean are complicated?
Nice words, only the complicated numbers are not clear to a simple person like me, also the abundance of typographical errors and the childish font do not add an impression of reliability.