Attention stargazers...

[kickaha]

So I know there are a few astrology buffs (serious and non-) on here.

Could someone please explain the ramifications of losing Pluto as a planet?

Thenk yew.




For that matter... how did astrology handle new planets being discovered? It would seem that's easier to work with than having one suddenly be declared irrelevant...


Just wonderin'.

Comments

for that matter

[ssandv.livejournal.com]

Astrology's always had a soft spot for a large asteroid or two anyway, so I don't see where declassifying Pluto would change anything significant.

Raymond Smullyan (logician, and Taoist) has an interesting take on astrology--there are obvious correlations between the positions of heavenly bodies and seasons, for instance, even though not all of them are relations, and he suggests, more or less, that if you treat it all as a series of various clock cycles, that it's possible some interesting things emerge from it. That is to say, you could just as well use cicadas, or sunspots, to do your astrology. Theories of spooky influence, on the other hand, he has no truck with whatsoever, and rightly so.

Who has a 'professional rivalry' with astrologers? Used car salesmen?

Re: for that matter

[kickaha.livejournal.com]

Yup, my take on it is that, given a small, genetically similar population that is 'stationary' (ie, no more than a hundred miles or so of travel in any direction in a year), you're going to have a few things going on:

1) Diet is standardized, and seasonal.
2) Genetics are 'standardized' - fairly homogeneous pool.
3) Locality is fixed, more or less.

Given the above, and given the information we're discovering over how womb influences can shape physio- and psychological traits, it stands to reason that there could be seasonal traits in the population based on when they were born, and that these traits would be noticed and recognized. The relationship with the stars is casual, not causal, of course, but that doesn't mean that there wasn't one at all.

Of course, today, with a quickly traveling, genetic melting pot, with a diet from all over the world, it's all bunk. :)