Should astrology truly be thought of as useless even if it had no basis in reality?
Let’s imagine that an unhappy person visits a competent astrologer and tells them about the difficult conditions in their life, their insecurities, and so on. The astrologer looks at their chart, and after a good talk, tells them that they have a great Jupiter placement or something, hidden talent in this area and that area, great abilities in another, and a huge potential for success.
Psychologically speaking, if this unhappy person trusts the astrologer and really believes what they’re saying even if it were nonsense, we may very well start to see the "power of suggestion" in action. It would be like the placebo effect. The person believes they have some talent and that they can be successful, and so they in turn create that talent and success for themselves.
How is this not a positive thing? Of course there are some who would use astrology to hold people back, but I’m really talking about competent astrologers who use astrology to lift people up. Even if astrology did not have any basis in reality, I would imagine that astrology would still be quite a positive thing for many people.
Quote:
"Many hypnotherapists have known about how powerful [the placebo effect] can be and have used the power of suggestion to help people for years. It has just taken the academics a while, to fund, and conduct measurable experiments to prove the validity of these concepts. The overall conclusion is that there is considerable power in suggestion. [...] You can use the power of suggestion to literally change your life for the good."
http://www.real-hypnosis.com/powerofsuggestion.html
It seems strange that so many villify something that has a great psychological potential, doesn’t it?
The way I see it is that if that placebo bettered the person’s life in some way, a positive effect was gained that would otherwise not be realized.
Personally, I would rather know the truth of my chart, which is why I chose not to consult other people and chose to learn for myself so I could make my own judgments. That way, whether my judgments were right or wrong, I owned them and they were not from another. This is important to me, but not so much to other people,
If a person trusts another enough and believes what they say enough to encourage them, there is no harm.
I would also like to point out that a talent is a God given (or inborn, if you don’t believe in God) trait; so if the astrologer found that in the chart, and the person was able to find that in themself, it really did exist. A person can be told they have a talent for singing in their chart, they may believe that and really WANT to sing, and even attempt to foster that talent, but anyone who’s ever watched American Idol knows that a lot of people out there THINK they have a talent, but just don’t. A talent is either there or it isn’t, so the astrologer is either wrong or right there.
I know that was just and example and I get your point, though.
For people in despair, any hope given them, even a false one, might be the chance for them to make it through a rough patch until something real comes along. I’m not condoning falsehood or lying to someone, but there are times when God puts those things in the persons path to shed a tiny little beacon.
The way I see it is that if that placebo bettered the person’s life in some way, a positive effect was gained that would otherwise not be realized.
Personally, I would rather know the truth of my chart, which is why I chose not to consult other people and chose to learn for myself so I could make my own judgments. That way, whether my judgments were right or wrong, I owned them and they were not from another. This is important to me, but not so much to other people,
If a person trusts another enough and believes what they say enough to encourage them, there is no harm.
I would also like to point out that a talent is a God given (or inborn, if you don’t believe in God) trait; so if the astrologer found that in the chart, and the person was able to find that in themself, it really did exist. A person can be told they have a talent for singing in their chart, they may believe that and really WANT to sing, and even attempt to foster that talent, but anyone who’s ever watched American Idol knows that a lot of people out there THINK they have a talent, but just don’t. A talent is either there or it isn’t, so the astrologer is either wrong or right there.
I know that was just and example and I get your point, though.
For people in despair, any hope given them, even a false one, might be the chance for them to make it through a rough patch until something real comes along. I’m not condoning falsehood or lying to someone, but there are times when God puts those things in the persons path to shed a tiny little beacon.
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(my personal )Life experience
No I wouldn’t be lying and I won’t be like those fake psychics who said, "there are many jealous people, give me $30,000 and we will buried it."
I would look for the negative things and then look for positive things in the chart…
Give them the reason why they are in this situation… and tell them to stay in school or whatever and I will tell them the outcome…. "if you do this, this will happen"
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You are assuming there are such things "competent" astrologers and a certain type of astrology (western) is correct. Astrology does not have basis in reality, it is still a belief system.
It does not really matter as long as this unhappy person use any belief system, religion could work just as easy if not easier. This should be asked in the psychiatry section. There are many reasons for someone to be unhappy and astrology stereotypes are not accurate.
"What can be asserted without proof can be dismissed without proof." – Christopher Hitchens
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