Atrological Musings

The following is my short piece for the second 2010 MASS³ (Monash Advanced Science and Science Scholars Society) Newsletter. I've decided to post the final version as it was published, and so I should say that means it has been edited for brevity and style by our editor, Kathleen. I've also decided to keep the title as it was published, as the typo was a source of great amusement to my friends who picked up on it (though I didn't choose the title so it wasn't my mistake). The newsletter can be found in full at https://docs.google.com/leaf?id=0B0i-U4H-VWTUNzI2YTEyMGYtYTg1YS00MTJiLTllMGMtM2Y4ZmFiZDYyZDEy&sort=name&layout=list&pid=0B-E2bB-8tzNlYjM5ZGVkNjQtN2U0ZC00ZGNjLTk5MGItN2MzZDQ5Nzg4YjM4&cindex=1.
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I happened to be given a book of astrological predictions for Christmas last year (as a joke, of course, or at least I should hope so). The most suitable place I could think to put it was my toilet, but perhaps not (only) for the reason you’re thinking. I have the opportunity, just about every day now, to see what this particular astrologer thought was going to be happening to me on this day or week or month. Sometimes the predictions are very specific, and sometimes very vague, but they are almost all entirely wrong.

Over the course of April, I took particular note of the predictions and recorded their success rate, and found it to be a measly 19%, while the daily predictions in the mX scored at about 15%. These figures are not out of the ordinary and I have from experience found them to be representative of the accuracy of astrology on the whole

This should come as no surprise to anyone with basic reasoning skills, and I have no doubt that most MASS3 members would have heard all of this before. After all, ask any astrologer how astrology works and why there are so many distinct and incompatible species of it and you are unlikely to receive an answer much more plausible than an appeal to some mystical magic “force” and an accusation of misrepresentation or naive misunderstanding. So why preach to the choir, as it were?

But allow me to explain. I firmly believe that astrologers should have the right and privilege to write and publish as they please. However, when astrologers begin to advertise themselves as having abilities which they clearly do not and use these claims to fleece money from people, they have crossed the line. Quite frankly this could almost be considered fraud!

Unfortunately the majority of newspapers and television talk shows lend credibility to these people by paying them for the privilege of receiving prominent exposure and giving them free reign to spruik their rubbish.

It’s easy to say that anyone gullible enough to be taken in by something like astrology deserves to lose their money, and while I sympathise with that sentiment, I also think it is severely misguided. I am certain that some will disagree with me, but my understanding is that the purpose of science is the accrual of knowledge about the world and how it works. Knowledge without anyone knowing it is meaningless, and so the mission of the scientist is not only to discover new things about the Cosmos but also to help ensure that that knowledge is retained and used by and for mankind.

If we allow people to happily fall victim to the trappings of any form of pseudoscience or antiscience, astrological or otherwise, then we are failing in our mission, even if it might seem as though other people’s ignorance is not our problem. On the contrary, helping the public think scientifically on a day to day basis is both crucial and fundamental to why we do what we do.

It is for that reason that we should all take a more proactive approach towards educating the wider public and improving scientific literacy, not only in the schools, but in the government buildings, in the churches and in people’s homes. How far each of us wishes to personally take on this responsibility is a personal choice, of course, and I am by no means suggesting we must all become the next Carl Sagan or Neil deGrasse Tyson. Perhaps though, we could do our bit next time someone tells us about star sign compatibilities, or the effect of the movement of Venus on our financial affairs. Such as calmly and politely explaining to them why they are full of shit.