The Stars are Aligned and they say “BS.”
“Jan 28, 2019 — An upset between you and a friend might cause you to wonder what you did wrong, Sagittarius. Chances are you were just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Your friend may have money problems and be too embarrassed to talk about it. Wait a few days and call again to see how things are. Your friend will feel more like talking, and all should be OK between you.”
You know what these are. You’ve read at least one in your lifetime, whether it’s because you wanted to know the best self-care tips for your sign, or because you just had to know the PERFECT travel destination according to your sign. Some people live by these religiously. Some people don’t think twice about Googling it. But whether we like it or not, we all know our signs. Based on our birthdate, one can find their natal chart, which depicts all of the stars that were aligned on the day you were born. These horoscopes are insanely popular today and many people believe in these words, going as far to base their days off of them. But how accurate are they? Are they just bullshit? And why do people pay so much attention to them?
To give you theory on why we love them, remember that horoscopes are just one of many “scientific facts” that we tend to live on. All a website or app has to do is feed us a generic sentence or two about our day, week or month and we gobble it up. Why do we love these? Perhaps because it enlightens and empowers us. Nothing can go wrong when you’re told by a random stranger on the internet that you’re going to have a good day. It’s a way for people to excuse any shitty behavior they have. “Sorry if you think I’m being rude, it’s because I’m a Gemini.” Or maybe we love it because it tells us what to do. As Harry Frankfurt quoted in his paper, On Bullshit, “The bullshitter is faking things. But this does not mean that he necessarily gets them wrong.” When you wake up to your horoscope telling you just how fantastic it’ll be when you wake up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day, you’ll be put into a good mood because now, it’s a positive mindset, that’s just vague enough that it can cover more than just one person’s day. Ultimately, these horoscopes pull people in via vaguely generic words that have been found on thesaurus.com and we’ll keep coming back for the reinforcement.
To add on to this new trend, people have begun to develop their lives around it. From choosing what to eat that day to deciding if a couple will be a good match based on their signs. I call bullshit. If someone decides to read a horoscope different than their own, I can guarantee that they’ll find they have something in common with at least two other signs. I call further bullshit because I happen to have been adopted and assigned a random birthdate. Therefore, I don’t actually know my exact date, time and location of birth. I was randomly chosen to be born in December, making me a Saggitarius- The adventurer. I’ve had friends ask me if I’ve ever purposefully molded my identity based on my sign’s traits, or if I’ve selectively read certain things about my sign in order for my personality to be more accurate. If I can base my personality off of a sign via selective reading, so can others. And mine has little if any truth to it.
The dictionary defines “bullshit” as “nonsense, lies, or exaggeration.” Urban Dictionary describes it as a “blatant lie, a fragrant untruth, an obvious fallacy.” Its usage in the past decade has increased immensely. This could be because what was once an inappropriate term is now commonly heard from the mouths of young adults.
Why might this be the case? Because of the immense amount of data swirling around our heads. Our brains aren’t meant to handle this much of it in one day, let alone an entire year. The more data we have, the more we have to process. So maybe it’s the increase in news and data that makes it more difficult to conclude what is and isn’t bullshit. Or does it make it easier?
One way to find out is through Exploratory data analysis. EDA is the second part of the epicycle of analysis. It allows you to explore the data and/or refine/alter your question about the said topic. Afterward, you can model, interpret and communicate an answer to your question.
Co-star Astrology is a fairly new astrology website, but what makes this one different is that it’s based on NASA data. The issue here is that out of all of NASA’s public data, there isn’t much in the way of the natal charts that these facts are based on. Am I saying that NASA doesn’t have records of where the sun, moon, and stars were on your day of birth? No. An agency that we provide millions of dollars of research funding to not having this information is unlikely. But, an astrologist reading this data to predict your future? Here’s where I become more cautious. However, others aren’t, and it shows since an astrologer’s average salary is $42,000 according to Career Trend.
What’s even better, is that after some digging into NASA on these public natal charts, you can’t even find the data. NASA even stated, quite clearly, “astrology is not astronomy!” The fact that there isn’t any data to even complete an EDA on the validity of astrology should speak for itself. The studies online are all qualitative and from over 5 years ago. Nobody’s opposing the validity of NASA, but nobody’s itching to check out their public data either. It seems that if a company can call on a reputable source, nobody is likely to check it. And that’s seen everywhere, meaning EDAs can limit the bullshit. If only we had the data.
So what are people paying for? Why do we put our future in the hands of these people? And why do we identify with these signs so much? A study from the NSF showed that in 2010, 62% of Americans believed that astrology was not scientific, compared to 2012, where the number dropped to 55%. UC Berkeley put out an astrology checklist for students to determine whether or not astrology was legitimately scientific. They concluded that although astrologers seek to explain the natural world, they don’t usually attempt to critically evaluate whether those explanations are valid — and this is a key part of science. The community of scientists evaluates its ideas against evidence from the natural world and rejects or modifies those ideas when evidence doesn’t support them. Astrologers do not take the same critical perspective on their own astrological ideas. Astrologers may be utilizing some of the most up to date data from a high-up agency, but it doesn’t mean they understand everything they’re looking at.
It’s written in the stars that despite what an EDA might say, horoscopes are bullshit. Ultimately what makes this “industry” so popular is that it’s 40% truth from reading the stars, and 60% belief, a great recipe for bullshit. It’s not necessarily marketing, because even if it’s telling you what dog to get (based on your birthday), it’s not being paid by some company. Additionally, it’s not propaganda because it’s not information of a biased or misleading nature, nor is it being used to promote or publicize a particular political cause or point of view. Truthfully, it’s all fun and games. There’s no pressure to live a specific way based on your birthday. If we know anything from reading these daily horoscopes, your significant other doesn’t even read their horoscope so focus on yourself, and maybe be careful when expecting things from them that the stranger online tells you to expect.
