Penn and Teller: Bullshit – Astrology
Millions of people across the world rely on horoscopes to make important decisions on their lives whether it be on where they live, who they date, what job they take, medical decisions, pregnancy, and even what they eat. This may not sound so bad because religion and other factors do this such thing. For example, in Orthodox Judaism, you’re not supposed to marry a Gentile (someone who isn’t Jewish) and you can’t eat certain foods because of dietary law, such as pork or shellfish. In fact, some religious Jews view it necessary to travel to Israel at least once in their life and have to have purchased land in Israel and if possible, live in Israel despite where they were born (such as the USA, Australia, or England).
This is a huge financial burden, both for religious Jews and those who depend on astrology. For some people, astrology is more than just a horoscope and is indeed a religion. Such people could include pagans (such as Kemetics, Hellenists, or religious combinations), Wiccans, and Witches. Shamanism and many Native American tribes rely on astrology as well. But what’s the big deal?
The problem with Astrology is that modern day Astronomers and Physicists (and Historians) have proven that their is no validity in Astrology and that most of the time it is a giant con and scam to make money off of vulnerable people. But before we get into specifics, what exactly is Astrology and what is the differences between it and other forms of Zodiacs?
The video posted above gives a decent definition for Astrology but let’s get a little more specific. The Oxford Dictionary (oxforddictionaries.com) defines it as thus:”The study of the movements and relative positions of celestial bodies interpreted as having an influence on human affairs and the natural world.”
It continues to give a little historical background on the topics:”Ancient observers of the heavens developed elaborate systems of explanation based on the movements of the sun, moon, and planets through the constellations of the zodiac, for predicting events and for casting horoscopes. By 1700 astrology had lost intellectual credibility in the West, but continued to have popular appeal. Modern astrology is based on that of the Greeks, but other systems are extant, notably those of China and India.”
What is the difference between this and, say, Astronomy?
“The branch of science that deals with celestial objects, space, and the physical universe as a whole.In ancient times, observation of the sun, moon, stars, and planets formed the basis of timekeeping and navigation. Astronomy was greatly furthered by the invention of the optical telescope, but modern observations are made in all parts of the spectrum, including X-ray and radio frequencies, using terrestrial and orbiting instruments and space probes.” (oxforddictionaries.com)
This is the major difference. Astronomy is a field of science and is sometimes known as Astrophysics. Astrology on the other hand is a pseudo-science that makes mystic predictions about a person and the future using only the placement of the astrological bodies, as observed from Earth.
It is important to point out that Astrology horoscopes today use the Greek method. Other Zodiacs other than the Greek exists such as the Chinese horoscope. If you can guess, these horoscopes are based off of star observations as that are taking place in China. The Egyptians also had a Zodiac system and used it very religiously. The entire nation depended practically on their astrology. However, their time keeping and star observations were entirely different than the Greek and Chinese. Why you may ask? For one, they had totally different gods and interpretations of the Zodiacs. Also, they were in a different location. The planet locations and the times for the rising of the sun were different than that in Greece, Rome, or China.
In other words, there should be a different horoscope and Zodiac for every time zone and location. How can your horoscope be exactly true if you live in California but the horoscope is based in Greece?
There is another problem. The Earth wobbles and every 27,000 years the stars in the skies shift. The last time the Earth shifted was between now and when the Greek horoscopes were created. But, astrologers never fixed it. In other words, your Zodiac is wrong. The method of determining your Zodiac is based on when you were born. This determines what Constellation the Sun was in when you were born. But, since the stars have shifted, the sun falls in a different constellation now than it did in the days of the Greeks and Romans.
A couple of good examples would be that what we call the North Star (it’s real name is Polaris) was not always the North Star, such as in the times of the Romans. The Romans also speak of a special Constellation known as the Crux (or Cross). It looked like a giant cross in the sky. However, this Constellation is no longer visible to the Northern hemisphere because of the earth’s wobbling. Not many people are aware of this wobbling of the Earth.
Many modern Astrologers will tell you that the reason the planets determine your fate based on your Zodiac is because of the Gravity they exert on your body based on their positions at the time of birth. This is completely untrue and I will demonstrate why. It is true that every object in the universe exerts a certain amount of gravity on every other object in the universe. The further away a object is from another, the weaker the influence of the object. All of matter has a certain amount of Gravity to it. But, larger objects have more influence than smaller ones.
For example, the object that has the biggest Gravitational influence on you would be the Earth. The proof is the fact that you are stuck to it. The next object would be either the Moon or the Sun. Waves on earth are in fact influenced by the Moon, its gravity pulling on the waves of the ocean. The Earth’s gravity influences the moon more than the Sun does because it is closer to the earth than the Sun. But, the Sun is so massive in gravity and size that it keeps all of the planets in their places.
I bring this up because the planets are so far away from each other that their influence on you individually is so small that it practically doesn’t matter. The gravity of the Earth, Sun, and Moon are so great that they drown out that of a planet such as Jupiter or Venus. In fact, they are drowned out so much that the building you were born in would have more influence over you than Mars would! Maybe we should make new horoscopes based on the hospital you were born in.
I will give another example as to how little influence a planet’s gravity has compared to that of the Sun. Their is a law in Astronomy known as Kepler’s Third Law. According to this Law, you can determine a planet’s distance from a star by knowing certain properties such as how fast it is going around it in years or seconds (this is known as p^2 = ka^3). Important information to know when determining the speed of a object, in knowing it’s distance, is knowing the Gravitational influence of the object. In other words, if you want to know how long it takes for an object to go around a star, you need to know how far away that object is and the amount of mass it has and therefore it’s gravitational influence.
When using this equation, a certain part of the equation requires you to times Gravity (G) by the mass of the two objects in question (M + m), which are the star and the planet. But, most of the time, astrologers skip this (M+ m) step and just say that it equals (M), which is the Mass of the Star. Why? Because let’s say you are doing this exact same thing but instead of adding the two masses of a Star and planet, you are doing it for a mountain and a pebble. Does that amount of mass the pebble adds to the mountain really matter? No. It is so small that it’s influence is practically none.
I mean, if you want to have your equation be (1,000 + .000000000000000000000000001) then go ahead. But in the end, it won’t matter.
So, when you are calculating the influence of Jupiter on you, or better yet, stars that are Light years away (just because the sun looked like it was in it from Earth 2,000 years ago in Greece), the amount of gravity that has influence is totally irrelevant when compared to the Sun, Moon, Earth, building you’re in, and people surrounding you in the room. These are important things to keep in mind and this is why we can easily debunk Astrology.
Sources and Resources:
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-4/Kepler-s-Three-Laws
http://www.oxforddictionaries.com
http://www.esoteric.msu.edu/VolumeIV/astrology.htm
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