Horoscopes

I've never read them but I assume they are extremely vague so they can seem correct

 

I think they are an insult to the collective intelligence of the species.

 

You assume correctly. Glorified advice columns that are vague enough to apply to nearly anyone at any given time

 

The ones you read in magazines aren't much cop, but if you have a proper birth chart done, it's brilliant. I recommend it.

 

They're only accurate because they're written in such general terms that they could pretty much apply to anyone.

While glancing through the Horoscope in my local freebie newspaper, it made specific claims that were unlikely to happen. I read enough of the entries to glean what the overall message is: be more confident, adventurous, gravitate to people, be a little showy. My horoscope says I'll find money on the street or that some cashier might give me too much change.

Not one single bit of truth in any of these these predictions. The pinnacle of proof for this would be that if I find money, then the Horoscope was correct, and everything they say is true! A bold proclamation that certainly won't happen, and even if it did I still wouldn't buy it. I've discovered money lying on the street and have been given way too much change more than once and I didn't attribute it to some pre-determined destiny written in the stars.

They can only ascribe the most general things to people. When they are more specific like the ones in my weekly, they do more than enough to discredit themselves.

 

I like them. They're fun to read and are pretty harmless.

I wouldn't choose the fate of more then $100 on a horoscope.

 

Obviously nonsense.

Tell one of those 'mystical' vagueness peddlers that like to call themselves spiritual or whatever that you've got a birth sign that's different to the one you actually have - they'll immediately jump on it and say something like "oh I could tell straight away you've got these traits that all Virgos always have." They get so annoyed when you tell them you lied.

 

On the very first night I moved out, I got Chinese food, and the fortune cookie contained a very menacing message. Something about getting an unexpected visitor. Needless to say that creeped me out a bit.

 

I think horoscopes are a load of bull but not necassarily astrology.

 

I occasionally read them. Sure, they aren't true 100% of the time, but once in a while, the resemblance to what goes on in real life to me can be oddly shocking about how similar it is.

 

I read them for fun once in a while but don't put much thought into it.

 

I find signs, and the actual chart, to be somewhat interesting and I've come across some eye-opening coincidences or similarities. However, I've never read a daily horoscope because they're so generic and irrelevant. Pass on the offer, OP.

 

I often find it fun and interesting when reading it.. but didn't put much thought in it..

 

Horoscopes make use of barnum statements that we apply to ourselves even when they weren't meant for us. Psychologist Bertrand Forer gave students a personality test and then gave them results supposedly tailored to them, but in fact written before the test and given to everyone in the class; most people said the results were very accurate. It's often like that with horoscopes too.

They can't all be totally vague, though, because then more people would see through them. That's why they put in some specifics (tailored to be probable), which can make the horoscope scarily accurate or completely off, as you say. It's not that it's true half the time and false half the time; it's that it's false all the time but sometimes gets lucky.

There's really no reason to believe in them. For every person who swears there personality lines up with it, there is another whose personality is the opposite and can't reconcile the two even with the Barnum effect.

 

I read yearly horoscopes at the beginning of the year and then re-read them at the end. Honestly it’s a waste of time, they never get anything right. And I’m not even going to start about the daily ones... Though my friend got her birth cart done and it really was quite accurate.

 

I know I've already posted, but wanted to add that astrology is based on a lot more than just the star sign. Your birth chart is based on the exact time, date and location you were born and is a lot more specific, taking into account the position of all the planets when you were born. It's really interesting. Magazines just write about the star sign so it's far too general.

 

There's a radio station near me that reads horoscopes and I usually listen to them on the way to school, BUT that's only because they're incredibly stupid. They say things like "If your baby daddy ain't paying your child support..." or "If your microwave is ..."and go from there. I really don't get it, but they're funny.

 

I like them. I know its not scientific/accurate but they are fun to read lol.