Should Scientists Date People Who Believe Astrology? 1181
YourAstrologer writes "Wired Science asks: Should scientists date people who believe in astrology? Apparently, the argument is quite complex. Astrology is sort of a flawed mental shortcut for understanding the world, but so is disregarding someone because of their spiritual beliefs. Women are inundated with astrological nonsense from fashion magazines, so it is normative for them to believe it even if they are otherwise highly logical. Smart people can convince themselves of silly things."
Which method? (Score:5, Funny)
Slow news day? (Score:1, Funny)
Don't mind my grumpiness. I think it's just the bad horoscope I read this morning. I should have stayed in bed.
Well (Score:1, Funny)
Yes. (Score:4, Funny)
This...IS....SLASHDOT! (Score:5, Funny)
Well... (Score:-1, Funny)
It depends (Score:4, Funny)
Astrology is just plain wrong (Score:5, Funny)
Re:This...IS....SLASHDOT! (Score:5, Funny)
Sometimes?
Offense (Score:5, Funny)
I have to take offense to this. Couple of years ago, the local paper's astrological peice listed for my birthday, 'If today is your birthday, you gonna get lucky today.' Now, yes I was dating the lady who was incharge of editing that section at the time; but by God, it was correct.
Re:Which method? (Score:3, Funny)
Think of the children (Score:4, Funny)
Only if she's a Water Sign (Score:3, Funny)
Oh man... (Score:5, Funny)
From the comments on TFA:
(note, this is not even on /. !)
Which begs the question: Should anybody date someone who recommends taking a look at a 68k Mac software in 2008 ?
I'm a Scorpio. (Score:4, Funny)
How to find a spouse (Score:5, Funny)
H: I heard you got married. Congratulations! How did you decide?
M: Well, this was not easy. I had three candidates and I conducted a test. I asked the first one:
"What's 2+2?".
She said "4".
I though to myslelf, that's good, the woman is smart.
The second one said: "Well, it depends. It can be 4, but sometimes it can also be 3 or 5."
That's even better, the woman is cunning.
I asked the third one the same question and she says "I don't care. Whatever my husband says it is".
I thought to myself, this woman surely will respect her husband. This is good.
H: So, which one did you take?
M: Oh. The one with big tits, of course.
I don't think that scientists are THAT different to other men.
Re:This...IS....SLASHDOT! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Offense (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Well (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Oh really? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sure, provided they are hot (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Comtempt is not compatible with love (Score:5, Funny)
Interesting - you believe in salvation through a holy zombie despite a total lack of explanation as to how the reanimation of dead bodies relates to human events ?
Re:Comtempt is not compatible with love (Score:5, Funny)
We're talking Goa'uld Sarcophagus or Ancient Healing Device here, not a zombie virus.
Being dyslexic can being amusing (Score:-1, Funny)
"Astrology, like Physics, employs simple psychological tricks in order to get the believer to believe..."
Re:Which method? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Which method? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sure, provided they are hot (Score:3, Funny)
The article is about Astrology not $cientology...
Re:Ahh... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Science is 24/7 (Score:4, Funny)
And a confusing life it is! But finally, I understand why so many scientists have problems with time management...
What about Scientology? (Score:-1, Funny)
Should scientists date people who believe in Scientology?
Oh my. (Score:5, Funny)
Astrology for scientists. (Score:5, Funny)
Now for some good news: by following the above steps, you will develop a mathematically sound personality that society actually needs, and, more to the point, every one of the linked personalities gets laid and so will you. Study your personality, make the set of behaviors etc. your own, and date only people who have an astrological sign that complements the one you've chosen using the above steps! When faced with a choice, read the astrology section of a trusted newspaper, and just do whatever is prescibed for your chosen personality. The only caveat (and really it is the only one) is not to mention your true birthday, only one that fits in with your chosen sign, if anyone asks. This is just to keep from having to explain the science behind your choice every time you mention it. If the relationship gets to be very serious, just invent a story about a botched birth certificate, for why your identification doesn't show your "true" birthday... As with nicknames, people will understand that you have a different "official" birthday.
FAQ.
Why is this better than a traditional horoscope?
The traditional way of determining astrological signs for selecting a personality is flawed because there is an unequal distribution of births by month. (It's not the only thing true about birth months, incidentally! Check out these studies linking lifespan and month of birth [google.com]!) Also, your physical birth month will be a function of, how can I put this delicately, your parents' mating habits, so it's less than scientific...
But won't twins have the same checksum?
Duh. It's an astrological sign. You know, normally based on birthdate...
But won't people cheat and just keep picking different checksum schemes until they get the "
Re:Which method? (Score:5, Funny)
What does the stars say? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Which method? (Score:2, Funny)
For example, when you compare what different practitioners of different religions say [amazon.com] on "the beyond" and related subjects, you find that, although the religions they practice are one very different from the other, after years of following to the letter the precise practices taught by that religion, the conclusions they all reach are the same, they are expressed in very similar terms, they draw the exact same picture of what reality "in itself" is like, etc. And by "different religions" and "different practitioners" I mean a modern day monk training in an Eastern Orthodox Christian monastery, a Native American using peyote, a Muslim Sufi of the 14th century, a Buddhist monk who lived in the 2nd century BC, etc.
So, yes, it's on the atheist hands to provide the extraordinary evidence allowing us to dismiss this enormous corpus of repeatable, reproducible experiences as useless.
And, most important: to do so properly, after studying and practicing the subject for as many years as it takes for a proper practitioner to reach these (again: repeatable and reproducible) results. Because this is in no way different than the requirements for one to become, say, a PhD in physics. For you to participate properly in a particle accelerator experiment, you need 8 years of basic education, plus 3 years of High School, plus 4 years of College, plus 2 years for a MD and 3 years for the PhD, i.e., 20 years (minimum) of dedicated study in total.
Religion requires the same effort and dedication for you to "get" it right. If you spent just 6 months in total thinking about religion to conclude it's worthless, then stopped worrying about it, don't expect your conclusion to have any weight whatsoever for those who spent 40 times more not only thinking, but "orthodoxically" practicing it, step-by-step, level-by-level, at each one confronting the results actually obtained to those others reached and adjusting his practice accordingly if they didn't match, until they did and he could advance to the next one and repeat the process. Simply put, there's no comparison.
Re:Which method? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I'm a Scorpio. (Score:3, Funny)
-
Re:How many people take this seriously? (Score:2, Funny)
You might be surprised!
A good friend of mine, almost a brother to me - an otherwise reasonable, sane guy - is a devout believer in astrology. For the longest time, I thought it was a (largely successful) ploy to get laid. But after many alcohol induced discussions with him, I came to the conclusion that he actually believes in it.
His explanation? When asked a few hard questions about astrology, e.g., Are all Scorpios complete fucking morons, or is it just you? and Why are all astrological predictions exceptionally vague and overwhelmingly flattering? he responded that he feels it's a useful way to get a feel for some baseline characteristics of an individual. Myself, being a sagittarius, am apparently prone to prolonged bouts of philosophical circlejerking and self-destruction. Not sure where I was going with this. Just food for thought.
Re:How is fetishes bad? (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Which method? (Score:3, Funny)
Temperature and amount of sunlight during pregnancy and early infant months of a baby have no effect at all at his/her personality? Observing positions of various constellations is not one way to keep track of seasons? I see some biology and astronomy education in your stars.
No, Male scientists should not date women (Score:2, Funny)
See, I'm a scientist (male). I would prefer it if women, including those who believe in astrology, preferred to date male scientists, especially in my age range, and that male scientists didn't want to date women.
That way demand for me is high and supply of me is low, making it fairly easy for me to date cute women.
Oh, and they should be rich too
Re:Which method? -- How about being well informed? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Just lie about your birthdate and see what happ (Score:3, Funny)