The pseudoscience of astrology, and why the topic is nothing more than a crock of crap.

I HATE PSEUDOSCIENCE. That's certainly no secret, and it always bothers me when people are saying "oh, because of Mars..." or "oh yeah, that trait is common among Capricorns" or "when Venus and Saturn make a right-angle..." because there is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER to support a word they're saying. Here's why.

The first of the examples given absolutely infuriates me. Mars is a planet, with an average distance from the Earth of 227,500,000km. The only one of the four fundamental forces which is really relevant for that sort of distance is gravity, which is so weak it can only really affect (very minorly) the Earth's orbit shape. There's no way it could physically have any effect whatsoever on the goings-on in any one person's personal life, and the idea that it would only affect one in twelve people, even if it were able to have some sort of effect, is absolutely preposterous.

I also frown whenever anyone mentions traits shared by certain star-signs, but admittedly not so deeply as I do for most astrological ramblings. After all, it's not beyond the realms of possibility that people born roughly the same time of year might share traits, as one needs to bear in mind that when one first attends school, some people in the same year might be born almost a year apart (think two people, one born in August and one in September), and how at the age of four, one year makes a lot of difference. It's feasible that people born in September-December might show more characteristics of a leader as a child, as they'd be considerably older than the younger members of their year, and carry those traits with them in later life. I think there's a statistic which says that the majority of professional footballers were born in September to November, which would support this hypothesis. However, to go so far as to assign specific characteristics is absolute nonsense, and even though they might appear to be accurate, in a bit I'll say why they're really not.

The third of my examples, the idea that two planets could make a right angle, absolutely riles me. How is it even possible for two planets to make a right angle? Two planets just make a line, as you're joining one point and another. To make a right-angle you'd need a third object to provide a corner, which is never mentioned in predictions like this.

There are a number of other things which fill me with ire, but I really can't be bothered to write that much more, so I'll round my argument off by shooting down the whole "but my horoscope is accurate!" argument. Horoscopes are written to be generic, to apply to as many people as possible! Not everyone reading the same horoscope is exactly the same! Next time you read your horoscope, try reading all the other signs, and see just how many of the other eleven are also relevant to you. I dare you.

If you want to argue back, of course, you're very welcome to, but I wouldn't recommend it unless you like being torn to shreds - my argument is perfect. :)