Astrology

1
Astrology
2/18/1996
lots and lots and lots of math.
2
Goals

• Non-scientific theories.
• Is astrology a science?
• Why should we care?
• Is science just another belief?

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Theories

• So a theory is a highly successful hypothesis.
• All hypotheses make predictions.
• All theories make predictions.
• All theories can be tested.
• Result Any scientific theory is subject to
  change as our ability to make tests, or make
  observations of a tests results, improves with
  time.

4
Concept Test

• Consider the following hypothesis
• An all powerful being created the universe 12
  days ago with all our memories and all physical
  evidence intact.
  

5
Limitations of Science

• Key to the scientific method is The Test.
• Q What can and cannot be tested?
• Q What is and is not reproducible?
• A Magic, the Divine, matters of faith cannot be
  tested and are not reproducible.
  
• Result
• Science is the search for natural or material
  explanations to the Universe.
  
• Science is limited to those questions of which
  natural or material explanations can be applied.

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Limitations of Science

• Can science disprove the existence of God?
• Can science disprove the existence of Divine
  Action?
  
• Science is limited to the search for natural
  explanations.
  

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What can Science Say?

• Is there evidence for un-natural explanations?
• The unknown versus the unknowable!
• God of the Gaps.
• Intelligent Design.
• Are we justified in assuming that natural or
  material explanations are sufficient to describe
  the world?
  
• Are we justified in assuming the Universe isnt
  random.

9
Theories

• So a theory is a highly successful hypothesis.
• All hypotheses make predictions.
• All theories make predictions.
• All theories can be tested.
• Result Any scientific theory is subject to
  change as our ability to make tests, or make
  observations of a tests results, improves with
  time.

10
Concept Test

• Which of the following DO NOT satisfy the
  requirements of a scientific theory?
  
• Objects of different mass fall to Earth with the
  same acceleration.
  
• The Universe is expanding from an initial point
  that existed 12 billion years ago.
  
• The better a species is adapted to its
  environment the more likely it is to pass on the
  ability to survive to its descendents.
  
• Outside our universe is another universe with
  which we have no contact.
  
• The making of leavened bread requires yeast.

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Non-scientific Theories

• Make no predictions
• Un-testable
• Cant be falsified

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Non-scientific Theories

• Cholesterol too high? ? Aliens are clogging your
  arteries with invisible probes.
  
• Spaghetti is bland? ? You were meant to eat bland
  food.
  
• Cholesterol too high? ? Gods must be angry.
• Spaghetti is bland? ? At the instant of tasting,
  tongue is transported to alternate dimension
  where all flavors are rendered nullified. Happens
  instantaneously.

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Falsification

• A real Scientific Theory tells you what
  observations are necessary to falsify it.
  
• Not so proponents of
• Face on Mars
• Moon Hoax
• Astrologers

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Non-scientific Theories
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Concept Test

• Consider the following hypothesis
• An all powerful being created the universe 12
  days ago with all our memories and all physical
  evidence intact.
  
• This is not a scientific hypothesis because
• Does not explain what is seen.
• Postulates a supreme being.
• Makes no predictions.
• Disagrees with currently accepted theories.
• None of the above.

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Concept Test

• Consider the following theory. Why does it not
  satisfy the requirements of a scientific theory?
  
• The chain of events needed for life to arise is
  too complicated to have happened by chance, a
  divine intelligence must therefore have caused
  life to arise (Intelligent Design).
• It assumes the natural process by which life
  arose isnt just unknown, but is unknowable.
  
• It makes no prediction which can be tested.
• It requires causes that are not material.
• All of the Above.
• None of the Above.

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Recap

• Science is a way of making theories to explain
  the physical world.
  
• Scientific theories
• Explain what is already seen
• Predict what can be seen in the future.
• Predictions can be tested.
• Scientific theories can be falsified.
• Reproducible and self-correcting.

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Astrology

• The date, time, (and place) of birth affect
• Your personality
• Your actions
• Events that will affect your life
• Horoscopes appear in most papers.
• Millions of people read them daily.

http//www.azcentral.com/ent/horoscopes/astrology1
01.html
http//astrology.about.com/od/basicsofastrology/
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Astrology

• Like other -ologies, is it a science?
• Explain what is seen?
• Make predictions?
• Does it work?
• What test would falsify astrology?

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Astrology Tests

• Come up with a test of astrology.
• Using no more than
• People in this room.
• Available newspapers (past or present).
• Time available.

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Does Astrology Work?

• Does it pass the test?
• Does it work better than chance?
• Does it matter?

One of the other prime uses of astrology is in
connection with the basic psychology of children
and recognizing in children, at an early age, a
basis for later psychological difficulties. The
horoscope is perhaps the best method to reveal
these tendencies while the child is still in
infancy. When parents know from the beginning
where the seeds of difficulties lie in the
child's life, early care and training might
mitigate much later unhappiness.
- The Cosmic Palette Astrology 101 by Haizen
Paige
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Science vs. Astrology

• Scientists are skeptical of astrology because
• It takes power out of the hands of scientists.
• It cant be tested.
• It has failed when tested.
• It proposes forces that are non-physical.
• It threatens our belief in a knowable universe.
• But no one believes astrology so who cares?

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Astrology and the President

• (TIME, May 16, 1988) --
• The First Lady dabbled in astrology as far back
  as 1967. In 1981 Joan Quigley made Nancy
  Reagan a believer . And from then on, no
  presidential public appearance was slated without
  the Friend's say-so. To this day, Nancy's Friend
  continues to influence the President's schedule.
  For the Reagan-Gorbachev Washington summit, she
  cast the charts of both men and determined

Former White House Chief of Staff, Donald
Regan and others make a compelling case that in
1986 and 1987 astrological influence dramatically
reduced the presidency's effectiveness, at least
partly, by keeping Ronald Reagan under wraps for
much of the time. Nancy's intrusions in the
scheduling process, Regan said in an interview
with TIME last week, began to interfere with the
normal conduct of the presidency.
(TIME, May 16, 1988)

• that 2 p.m. on Dec. 8, 1987, was the most
  propitious moment for them to sign the
  intermediate-range nuclear forces treaty. At
  Nancy's behest, the entire summit was built
  around that hour. For the upcoming Moscow summit,
  Gorbachev's chart (he is a Pisces) has been
  recast alongside Reagan's (Aquarius).

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Homework 3

• Due Wednesday 10-Sept Read Sg3 The Harmony of
  Worlds from Cosmos.
  
• On page 64 Carl says Kepler stood on the cusp of
  history the last scientific astrologer was the
  first astrophysicist. Whats the difference
  between these two and what does it mean to make
  the transition from one to the other?
• Bennett, Chapter 3 (B3), Problem 32
• In 2005 Mike Brown at Caltech discovered an
  object orbiting the Sun in the outer-reaches of
  our solar system. It is an object larger than
  Pluto. According to Brown, the planet orbits (on
  average) 70 AU (astronomical units) away from the
  Sun. How many years does it take this new
  planet to make one complete orbit of the Sun?
• 70 years
• 140 years
• 490 years
• 590 years
• 4900 years.