Astrology and Horoscope are a Type of Pseudoscience: This study concludes that astrology is a pseudoscience and that its theories have no empirical au (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781071114605)

A Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that are claimed to be both scientific and factual, but are incompatible with the scientific method. Statistics show that the recent upsurge in interests for horoscopes and astrological predictions may not be disconnected from the belief that astrology is in some way scientific, and that it is able to offer explanatory insights and foresights (predictions) into many of life's complexities. This study scrutinizes the "scientificness" of astrology and finds that it falls short of the scientific method, is flawed by its inherent theoretical inconsistencies and has been invalidated by several empirical tests. Astrology gains its relevance today from the vulnerabilities imposed by the stress of burgeoning social complexities, and it sustains participatory interest through the fragile sense of succor that it gives through the Barnum Effect and Subjective Validation. The study evaluates the mystical and mythological origins of astrology as a culturally transmitted heuristics, the stagnancy of its explanatory power for about four millennia despite advances in human knowledge (such as the discovery of the precession of the equinoxes which automatically alters its zodiacal order and reduces astrological charts to mere abstractions), its posture of inerrancy and confirmation bias for scanty supportive tests in spite of the numerous empirical invalidations of its theories, and its lack of openness to systematic practices and the scientific method in developing sound theories. The study observes that astrology is inflicted with all the trappings of a failed science, its predictions have no empirical credibility, but are merely generalized conjectures designed to fit all situations. The study concludes that astrology is a pseudoscience and that its theories have no empirical authenticity.

Author: Austin Koeckeritz
ISBN-10: 1071114603
ISBN-13: 9781071114605
Publisher: Independently Published
Language: English
Published: 05/31/2019
Pages: 204
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.50lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.00w x 0.47d