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Comment by gberger | Hacker News Reader

Dear Vice:

Either you publish astrology, or you publish astronomy. You can't do both and expect to be taken seriously.

[] https://www.vice.com/en_us/topic/astrology

I'm no fan of Vice, but newspapers are understood to have different sections, and different sections have different standards. As long as the science section is OK, then it's fine (for a newspaper).

Jeez, 81 pages of astrology, 25 of astronomy.

I'm going to be optimistic today and assume this due to the relative ease of content creation, rather than the relative interest in the subject matter.

I wish this were the sole cause.

Why, do you expect there is zero overlap between folks with an interest in science and those with an interest in spirituality?

If by spirituality you mean newspaper horoscopes... I mean I’d like to think so, but you’re probably right.

Science (or even just common sense) CAN show that horoscopes are bullshit though.

Astrology can be useful to a scientist. Not as a source of truth, but as a convenient tool for introspection.

If your sign says you're hotheaded, for instance, it doesn't actually tell you anything about yourself. But you can take it as a thought starter that helps you reflect on your temper or lack thereof, and how that relates to the people around you.

Fair enough I guess, that just seems... like a convoluted way of going about it.

There's a reason why personality style quizzes are so popular online - people are always trying to figure out aspects of their identity!

Yes, astrology is spirituality. Its popularity has increased as participation in organized religion has fallen. Coincidence?

I don't think they expect, or even want us to take them seriously.

Anti astrology people are so prevalent in tech and also so silly to me. They all are so obsessed with reason and science that they can't understand that astrology is fun and a platform for introspection. It's not some societal ill ruining everything.

I get it though - I felt the same way when I was like 15 ;)

I thought I'd never live to see the day HN is defending actual f*cking astrology.

Maybe you should learn to not need reason and science to justify everything.

I don't think the position of celestial bodies at my birth affects my personality. But I still get a daily Co-star push notification and sometimes it makes me reflect on something I wouldn't have otherwise.

I see it in the same light as Myers–Briggs types. They only have the meaning people find in them. People seem to enjoy it, and all the proposed harms are as hard to prove as the predictive power.

You know why I don't believe in Astrology???

Because I am a Sagittarius....

Vice is not taken seriously, the premise is false on entry.

C'mon, it isn't even trying to be taken seriously. its Weekly World News.

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