Pseudo means false or something that is not genuine whereas science signifies knowledge that is gained through observation, experimentation and investigation hence Pseudoscience as a word is quite paradoxical. Similarly the basis of Astrology is considered to be paradoxical and conflicting. Astrology is a belief system that the movements of celestial bodies have a certain influence on human beings and certain outcomes are predicted on the basis of these movements. Planets are held responsible for the physical and mental traits of a person. Additionally, it is also believed that a person’s fortunes can be amplified and performing certain rituals can alter misfortunes.
Astrologers believe that birth of a person signifies a deeper meaning and the factors like birth time and place shape a persons destiny. Astrology has been the guiding light and the means to connect and understand the language of that cosmos. Astrologers also cite that astrology has helped us to know about our past and predict our future.
All these claims seem to be true and as a matter of fact they have been accepted widely but a closer examination casts doubts on astrological theories and the methodologies adopted to reach conclusions about the future. Also, there have been many instances where legitimate proofs and logical explanations were completely missing from the principles that were followed to reach these conclusions. In addition to this, lack of facts and reliance on ancient methodologies to make predictions has raised serious concerns of scientists who demand evidence and proper verification which the crusaders of astrology have not been able to fulfill. These reasons have led to the labeling of astrology as a subject of pseudoscience domain. There are many contradictions associated with pseudoscience and we term them as fallacies. Similarly, there are fallacies with respect to astrology as well. Some of them which have been discussed and debated about are:
- Dependence on Celestial bodies: It is believed that movements and positioning of planets affect the life of human beings in many ways. ‘The arrangement of the planets, Moon, and Sun in the sky relative to the time and place of your birth largely determine your personality and the events of your life’ (Hanna 2012). But there can be planets about which we hardly know or that have not been discovered yet. Then the prediction made without considering the affect of unknown planets is incomplete and cannot be believed. Also, this theory was based upon the knowledge about the planets that were known to man in ancient times. New planets have been discovered and yet their effect has not been considered while making predictions in present times. Planets digress from their orbit due to gravitational forces hence this should cause a change in the prediction but these changes are not even taken into account while making claims about the future. Therefore we can say that errors of judgment and ignorance have been present all along since the beginning of astrology and due to this reason the dependence on celestial entities or planetary motions is not a very reliable evidence to reach any conclusion.
- Birth Chart fallacy: Astrologers take into account the birth time and place to draw a pictorial representation of planets that appear inane to the rational mind, they term it as birth chart but, ‘what is that EXACT time they are looking for? Is it the moment of conception ~9 months in the past? Is it precisely the moment the baby’s head peeks out of the womb? Is it the moment the baby is fully outside the mother’s body? What is it and most importantly why that moment?’ (nitwitnastik 2009) There are many people born at the same instant throughout the world and yet none of them share similar life experiences. Furthermore, astrology has not taken into account the effect of this factor in animals. If birth time is important then an animal born at the same time and place similar to that of human should have the same fate. Why these factors have not been applicable to animals? The failure to answer these questions or give a valid explanation behind these assumptions strengthens the point to label astrology under pseudoscience.
- Conformation Bias: It is a human tendency to remember the predictions that became true and forget about the predictions that did not manifest into reality. This is termed as ‘conformation bias’. ‘For example, a horoscope that is correct will be remembered, while one that is incorrect will be forgotten or ignored’ (Richards 2010). It allows the liberty to make vague predictions, which a person usually forgets. Claims that become true are highly publicized and people tend to believe in such superstitions that are a mere coincidence occurring out of randomness and probability. Out of ten claims even if one accidently becomes true, it is emphasized and used as a means to instill fear in the minds of people whereas the other nine which were false are plunged into darkness, deliberately by astrologers and defendants of astrology.
- Mass Tragedies: ‘If astrology can predict a person's fate, can astrology also predict the occurrence of mass tragedies?’ (Cline 2013) This question has not been answered till date. If astrology has the means to guide people about the unknown then why can’t it be used to know about the natural calamites and disasters that can harm the human race? Why cannot the rules or principles that predict human fate be used to determine the fate of humanity as a whole? If the claims are legitimate then the same rules should be applied to predict the time and date of occurrence of disasters but this cannot be done because there is no principle that can applied to know the future. Moreover, the dooms day prediction that was a cause of concern and fear among the masses also proved to be incorrect hence it can be said that, astrology misleads people.
- Failure to Make Amendments: In this era of ever growing knowledge new discoveries are made in many fields. Scientists keep on updating and verifying the outcomes of their experiments from time to time but in pseudoscience things seldom change. The basis and rules remain as they are without any advancement or correction. Same is the case with astrology. ‘The characteristics of the various zodiac signs are fundamentally unchanged from the days of ancient Greece and Babylon’ (Cline 2013). If the predictions turn out to be fallacious then reasons are not sought behind the failures instead the astrologers are blamed to be incompetent. New methodologies have not been devised and ancient methodologies have not been rectified with the present discoveries.
- Generic predictions: The statements given about the future are not specific in details and they can be applied under any given circumstances. The statements are remembered and believed to be true by the people and as a result the human brain finds a reasoning to apply these generalizations specifically to their own lives. However, upon deeper analyses it is found that these statements can be applicable to anyone irrespective of the birth, zodiac or community that one lives in. This psychological behavior is termed as Forer effect. ‘It is the observation that individuals will give high accuracy ratings to descriptions of their personality that supposedly are tailored specifically for them, but are in fact vague and general enough to apply to a wide range of people, that is to say, an identical astrological description can be given to anyone and, although it is very general and vague, people will apply it to their own lives with high accuracy’ (Hill 2011). This psychological factor has helped astrologers to further propagandize vague claims as true prophecies.
- Flawed Zodiacs: The sun signs that we follow today are based upon the findings almost two thousand years ago. At that time the sun rose in a different direction in comparison to the present. ‘Thanks to a wobble in the earth’s axis, the constellations nowadays are shifted in the sky by almost 36 degrees—an entire month along the zodiac’s clock’ (Overstreet 2013). This means that the sun sign you have now is not your real sun sign because the appearance of the sun in a zodiac constellation on your birth date determines it. Hence, it implies that Scorpios are Libras; Sagittarians are Scorpios and so on!
- Perception: Movement of celestial bodies, positioning of planets and birth timings convey some meaning but how can one conclude that what is being perceived has the right meaning? Presence of special cognitive abilities need to be possessed by humans in order to classify and decipher what combinations of factors can lead to the presence of predicted characteristics, which unfortunately is not present in any being. It is like perceiving different things by observing the formations of clouds, the shape that appears a happy face to one individual might seem to be a crying one for another hence there is no basis or legitimacy behind these assumptions.
Based on the fallacies above it can be deduced that astrology is a pseudoscience. The tenets it follows to reach conclusions are baseless and devised by the human mind to delude the people from reality, instill fear in innocent minds and trick people to make donations or pay consultation fee charged by astrologer. These practices need to be ended by making people aware and seeking answers about the prevalent ambiguities from the practitioners of astrology who prevaricate when confronted. Failure to verify any prediction or provide a logical explanation behind any theory should be dealt seriously and the instigator behind the false claim should be punished because of spreading superstition and misleading the masses. Hence, it is rightly said by Voltaire that “Superstition is to religion what astrology is to astronomy: the mad daughter of a wise mother”.
Works Cited
Hanna, Mark "Planetary Prophecies Part 1: The Plausibility of Astrology", 2012,
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nitwitnastik "The Scientific Case for Astrology??!!”, 2009,
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< http://nitwitnastik.wordpress.com/2009/06/13/the-scientific-case-for-astrology/>.
Richards, Shoemaker Bailey "Astrology- Are Horoscopes Accurate? ”, 2010,
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< http://suite101.com/article/is-astrology-accurate-a271446>.
Cline, Austin "Critiques of Astrology ”, 2013,
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< http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/skepticism/blfaq_astro_crit_index.htm>.
Cline, Austin "Is Astrology a Pseudoscience ”, 2013,
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< http://atheism.about.com/library/FAQs/skepticism/blfaq_astro_sci_pseudo.htm>.
Hill, Kyle "The signs May have changed but Astrology is still bogus ”, 2011,
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< http://sciencebasedlife.wordpress.com/2011/01/24/the-signs-may-have-changed-but-astrology-is-still-bogus/>.
Overstreet, Wylie "The Enduring Fallacy of Astrology and Why Your Actually Isn’t Your Sign”,
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