The Danger of Horoscopes

Debunking astrology and establishing its place as a pseudoscience

Horoscopes. For some of us, horoscopes are an important source of information about ourselves and our futures. For others, it’s the section of our newspaper or Cosmo magazine that we skip. But whatever your stance is on horoscopes, it’s important to understand that their place lies firmly in the land of pseudoscience. I want to offer the disclaimer that I’m not arguing that we should never look at horoscopes. What I’m advocating for is that we consider horoscopes to be, at most, a source of fun. Because while horoscopes can be amusing, considering astrology to be a form of science or placing them in the same category as rigorous and well-researched scientific disciplines is not only misleading — it can actually be dangerous.

Arguments for Astrology — Debunked

First, let’s take a look at two of the most popular explanations that have been used to argue the scientific basis of astrology.

1. Just as the moon exerts a tidal force on the oceans, the planetary and stellar objects at the time of birth exhibit a similar force on the body and can therefore influence development.

The very basic premise of this argument is essentially true: the moon, the sun, the planets, your cat, your boss, and indeed all the bodies in the universe exhibit a gravitational pull on the Earth. The strength of that force depends on two things — the mass of the object and its distance from Earth. The larger and closer an object is, the stronger its gravitational attraction to us will be.

Let’s get into some math. At its nearest, Mars lies about 35 million miles from the Earth. We can compare this to the moon, which is roughly the same size and orbits about 250,000 miles from the Earth, or 140 times closer. We also need to understand that that gravitational force and distance follow an inverse square relationship. This means that an object that is twice as far from the Earth will exhibit four times less gravitational force. In the case of Mars and the moon, the gravitational pull of Mars on the Earth is about 20,000 times weaker than…