Horoscopes - Factual or Fictional?

[Kiwi Man]

I did a search on horoscopes and star signs, but all that came up were two threads by Zekey on 'Fate or Free Will' and 'Extra-Terrestrials'.

So:

Do you believe in Horoscopes? Or are they a waste of time and space?

Personally, I think that it's impossible for a horoscope to be wrong.

Yet I don't believe that they can tell the future.

The reason that I think this is because every horoscope I've ever read read is a whole lot of 'ifs' and 'mays'.

For example, this is what today's newspaper said for me (Leo):

Someone you haven't heard from for a very long while or perhaps have not even thought of could make a dramatic re-entrance. If you are on the move in the next fortnight your dashing, dramatic ways need to be counterbalanced with a more measured approach when it comes to arrangements.

How could this be wrong when the horoscope covers itself by saying something could happen or if something happens.

So, what do you think? Are horoscopes amazing, future-telling things or stupid fakes?

[Martinus]

Stupid fakes.

Celestial shift has effectively nulled any semblance of factual connection; you were not born under the sign that the daily rag that perpetuates this assigns to your birthdate.

Some astrologers have tried to invalidate this claim by using 'adjusted' charts but you may as well look into a crystal ball, at least it's not going to intentionally guide you wrong. Life is what you make of it, be optimistic and you will percieve the good things in life more readily, be pessimistic and you'll only notice the bad.

[LeoZ]

Horoscopes are a load of bull. The reason they turn out to be 'right' once in a while is because they are so immencely vague, they could be taken to aply to anything.

i wrote something about them on my Page of Rage in fact...

http://www.leo-stuff.com/pageofrage.htm#horoscopes

[argh]

Horoscopes are soo real. I mean, how could vaugly phrased sets of words, that apply to millions of people, possibly be wrong?

So no one assumes otherwise, I'm mocking people who believe in horoscopes in general. No one specific. (That means you Kiwi)

[Kiwi Man]

I think I'd better point out that I also believe horoscopes are a load of turd. I have the feeling that some people may have thought otherwise because they didn't read any more than the first few lines of my other post.

[cutmanmike]

Watch the spending today, Virgo. The negative aspect between the sun and the moon is likely to either make you less cautious about spending your hard earned cash, or make you careless about your budget. Avoid the malls and wait for this to pass, which it will!

Hmm... Sounds like BS on toast to me.

[Darkscull]

i once read a horoscope that covered itself to the extent of almost being contradictory...

something along the lines of 'you'll either find the person you're gonna spend the rest of your life with, or have a meaningless and destructive fling with someone who will use you, or anything in between'

all horoscopes do is tell you what you want to hear. because they are worded so ambiguously, people assign meanings to it that reflect what they think will happen.

or they are self-fulfilling prophecies... telling someone that they will meet a tall, dark, handsome man will put them on the look out for tall, dark, handsome men, and therefore they will find one.

[Darling]

Load of pish, normally written up by the tea boy.

[LeoZ]

Looks like this is going to be a rather one sided debate.

[cutmanmike]

all horoscopes do is tell you what you want to hear. because they are worded so ambiguously, people assign meanings to it that reflect what they think will happen.

Couldn't have put it better myself! :jizz:

[faragher]

I think they are interesting because they show how people brains work.

We tend to notice certain things more - for example, when you get a new car, you start to notice all of the other cars of that kind on the road.

If the horoscope says "this week you will hurt yourself", when you stub your toe, you will remember the horoscope - you will 'notice' the event more than you would have otherwise.

There is an interesting experiment you can do to test this - you think of an object (to take Richard Bach's example, a blue feather), and within a week or so, you will see it...

[renatzu]

A wise man once said:

Now you may find it inconceivable or at the very least a bit unlikely that the relative position of the planets and the stars could have a special deep significance or meaning that exclusively applies to only you, but let me give you my assurance that these forecasts and predictions are all based on solid, scientific, documented evidence, so you would have to be some kind of moron not to realize that every single one of them is absolutely true where was I?

I don't think anyone is going to admit that they use horoscopes, for fear of ridicule, and so I don't think this debate is going to get off the ground.

[Martinus]

No one can honestly ridicule anyone who makes a viable argument.

[Darkscull]

No one can honestly ridicule anyone who makes a viable argument.

have you ever known someone supporting horoscopes and such to give a viable argument?

[renatzu]

have you ever known someone supporting horoscopes and such to give a viable argument?"
Exactly. The only proof anyone will be able to give will be rooted in faith, which they won't be able to argue. We might find someone who uses them, but they will probably say something like "I look at them, but I don't take them too seriously".

[Ozzylator]

As such I can't see this debate going far. It's like "Massacres - Harmless fun?"

Too one-sided.

[crab]

It's a classic case of gambler's memory.

If you ask someone who believes in their horoscopes, they will point to times when it's been true for them. However, they will forget the times it hasn't been true.

[Smokey]

I know that they're fake but I read them for shits and giggles. You can often interpret an event in your life to the vague predictions found in hororscopes.

The best one I ever read claimed that Saggitarii (is that a real word?) would have a disagreement with someone close and then would be "in for a month of extreme mass debation".