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[Pinball Neil]

That's what I was thinking! How was I supposed to make the stretch to fit it to my day sitting in front of the computer at work?

[Lord Biscuit©]

If my astrologist is also a psychic, what happens in a conflict?

For example, the astrologer half says I'm going to be lucky in love next week, but the psychic half can see I'm going to get run over by some lunatic Greek in a Barina and killed. Which get preference? Is there a code of ethics?

[Pinball Neil]

  same could apply if your astrologer was a Greek guy with a Barina...

[Mr. Blonde]

A certain purveyor of 'news' has my horoscope today as:

'All's fair,' they say, 'in love and war.' No it's not. How can it be? And how dare anyone compare these two dramatically different states? Or conditions? Or situations? Regular rules no longer apply? Regular rules don't ever apply. We just think they do. It is only when we get caught up in an extreme intense drama that a veil falls from our eyes and we realise what a pretence we have been playing out. What's irrational now, and what's rational? Well, let's put it this way, if you think you can be sure, you are wrong.

?

Sounds like the writings of a failed philosophist.
Perhaps that's what Arts students with no real goals end up doing in life?

[Invisible Friend.]

Sounds like the writings of a failed philosophist.
Perhaps that's what Arts students with no real goals end up doing in life?

Eeeek.

[Pinball Neil]

GC, could you send your CV to astrologerjob@newslimited.com.au please?

[Mr. Blonde]

If my astrologist is also a psychic, what happens in a conflict?

For example, the astrologer half says I'm going to be lucky in love next week, but the psychic half can see I'm going to get run over by some lunatic Greek in a Barina and killed. Which get preference? Is there a code of ethics?

It could work. Perhaps you'll fall in love with the lunatic Greek in the Barina, then he'll run you down because he doesn't know how to fully express his feelings towards you. Making quirky pizzas is not enough for him!

Eeeek.

You have goals though Vis. And even if you don't, now you have some incentive to make some so that you don't end up writing astology signs. 

[Lord Biscuit©]

It could work. Perhaps you'll fall in love with the lunatic Greek in the Barina, then he'll run you down because he doesn't know how to fully express his feelings towards you. Making quirky pizzas is not enough for him!

That would mean I'd have to go "to bat for the other side" - not that there's anything wrong with that. Just can't see it happening.

[Mr. Blonde]

That would mean I'd have to go "to bat for the other side" - not that there's anything wrong with that. Just can't see it happening.

Yes, but if your astrology sign says it's in the cards, it must be going to happen! Embrace it! Go with it! It's only natural. And astrological.

[Truckarella]

I'm going to google my horoscope and keep clicking until I find one that says I get laid or my landlord dies.

[.]

I don't understand how the aligning of stars, etc, can possibly provide an outline of someone's personality. What does that have to do with anything?

I don't think it's solely an alignment of the stars...I reckon it also has to do simply with the influences of the time you're born etc. Hard to explain, but I know what I mean

Having said that, humans are pretty clueless when it comes to the 'grand scheme of things'. How do you NOT know that particularly energies are generated when certain things are aligned?

Yeah, I know I sound like a crackpot, but maybe astrology is just a "neanderthal man's" way of explaining some kind of cosmic force that we're not smart enough to be aware of yet?

I can't explain how my mum guesses people's star signs with such accuracy.

[Mr. Blonde]

I don't think it's solely an alignment of the stars...I reckon it also has to do simply with the influences of the time you're born etc. Hard to explain, but I know what I mean

Having said that, humans are pretty clueless when it comes to the 'grand scheme of things'. How do you NOT know that particularly energies are generated when certain things are aligned?

When you say 'influences of the time you're born', I assume you mean cosmic/astrological influences?
I'm of the belief that it's all down to influences of genetics and the physical environment, rather than astrological. Surely more immediate things like a nurturing family, good home environment, good education, etc would be more character-building than some distant cosmic force...?

Even if energies are generated when certain things are aligned, how would that affect someone's personality? What happens if there's no significant energy being produced when you're born? Do you consequently have no personality? And when it is produced, does the energy absorb into us and interfere with our brains?
And how does this affect the rest of our lives? How can the influences of the time you were born - one moment in time - have such an effect on the rest of our lives? I just don't see how something so simple can lead to people knowing what will happen to you for the rest of your life. What, then, is the point of living? What happens to chance and luck, if such things exist? It all goes out the window just because 'oh, you were born in June therefore you ("you" being every single person born at the same time as you) will have financial problems next month and you will lose something you hold dear'.
It's all too general for me. 

Yeah, I know I sound like a crackpot, but maybe astrology is just a "neanderthal man's" way of explaining some kind of cosmic force that we're not smart enough to be aware of yet?

It is interesting, the whole human fascination with astrology. There's so much out there, and I'd be willing to suspend my disbelief for a second to consider that certain cosmic forces could be having such an effect us, but only in a physical sense, ie. the orbit of Earth, gravity, etc. But personality? It just doesn't seem logical to me.

I can't explain how my mum guesses people's star signs with such accuracy.

That's exactly it - it's a guess. Perhaps she just gets lucky. I mean, she'll either get it right or she'll get it wrong, and she's got 12 options. When she gets it right, people are all "omg that's so cool!" but when she gets it wrong people would just think "that's alright, she got it right all those other times so she must just have been a bit off on that one".
But still, it is pretty crazy that she can get it right so often.

I find it all very interesting, if only for the fact that so many people live by it on a daily basis. My mum, for one, admits it's a load of crap, yet still insists on reading her stars every day. 

[.]

Hmm. I don't believe that people can give generalised predictions about a whole star sign as done in papers/websites etc. And I don't think that one's astrological profile is the sole determiner of personality.

I just refuse to rule out the idea that there's the potential for things way beyond our scope of knowledge to shape us and affect us.

i mean, think of a russian doll analogy. the behaviour of a microscopic skin cell in our body is influenced by the sun's rays that come from a gazillion miles away, in combination with other factors like genetic make up, behaviour etc. so basically there's layers of things and the superlarge layer can affect the tiniest layer, but the tiniest layer may be unaware because the superlarge layer is to large to see/comprehend.

and we may think that we're animals of choice and free will but when it gets down to it we're really just data processing machines made of chemicals and electrical impulses that have been programmed by internal and external forces to respond in a particular way to things. so what rules out distant forces like astral alignment and potentially cosmic 'energy' from impacting on that as well? i mean...the moon affects the tides. and cops/hospitals agree that full moons correlate with increased nutty behaviour in people.

as for influences at the time you're born...i was also thinking like, time of year and social influences that impact you at particular stages of cognitive development. so like, if you're born in june, at six months of age you're taking in social events like christmases and new year celebrations. this is compared to someone born in january who experiences those events at 12 months of age. so there's kind of a shared social experience that could affect development. of course, this would be limited to cultures that share the same kind of events but western astrology is normally paired with western cultures that are similar (if that makes sense).

of course, this is all Bullshit Yak Theory that i tend to drum up when i'm a bit tipsy at home on a friday night

Even if energies are generated when certain things are aligned, how would that affect someone's personality? What happens if there's no significant energy being produced when you're born? Do you consequently have no personality?

I'm thinking Eru might have been born at a time of no significant energy being produced 

but yeah. a proper astrological chart is a good read. even though your sun might be in a particular sign, other planets (which supposedly rule different facets of your personality) can be in all sorts of signs. so although you may be an aries, you may not be like the aries down the road because you could have a lot of libra in your chart while they have more capricorn.

as i said, i dont think that generalised forecasts in the paper are worth a pinch of shit, but a personalised chart detailing how current alignments affect your own personal chart could be more valid.

[Mr. Blonde]

The moon thing is pretty weird. And I guess if the moon can have such an impact (however slight) on the physical nature of the world then perhaps distant stars can...but it's a stretch for me to believe that.

And perhaps it's just a psychological thing when people go crazy because of the moon? I mean, everyone's heard stories about people going psycho when there's a full moon, so perhaps people are more inclined to let themselves go (subconsciously) at around that time?

But I obviously really have no idea.

Back in primary school, my best friend was born on the same day as me, in the same year. Does that mean the planets and things would be in the same place for both of us? We were both such different people though. Sure, we did have some similarities - we liked the same food, played the same musical instruments, had the same middle name, and obviously enjoyed each other's company, but other than that we were completely different. I don't really talk to her anymore because we just don't click.

as for influences at the time you're born...i was also thinking like, time of year and social influences that impact you at particular stages of cognitive development. so like, if you're born in june, at six months of age you're taking in social events like christmases and new year celebrations. this is compared to someone born in january who experiences those events at 12 months of age. so there's kind of a shared social experience that could affect development. of course, this would be limited to cultures that share the same kind of events but western astrology is normally paired with western cultures that are similar (if that makes sense).

That's what I'm inclined to think - social influences have much more power over someone's development than some distant force. I'd like to think that it's more immediate environment and interaction that makes you who you are. Perhaps that's just me being narrow-minded, but it just makes sense to me.

I'm thinking Eru might have been born at a time of no significant energy being produced 

I knew you'd say something like that. 

[Mez]

I once worked with someone who had a big book that went into detail about people born on each day of the year.  It was frighteningly accurate!  I think the blurb on the book said it was related to astrological signs.

However, being married to an astronomer has changed my ideas about astrology.  It's basically a crock.  And if you accidentally call Mr Mez an astrologer instead of an astronomer, he won't rip your head off and stuff it down your neck, but he won't respect you anymore either.