Astrology - More Harmful Than You Might Think

Probably the most common and accepted pseudoscience today is astrology. Most papers have daily or weekly horoscopes. Almost everyone in the world knows or is aware of their astrological sign. It's fair to say it's commonplace, even when submitting my birth date to this website it spits out my zodiac sign. It's pretty safe to say astrology is so prevalent in society most people don't even notice its presence.

And that's my concern. While most people, I hope, look at astrology as nothing more than an amusing distraction or worse, a silly superstition, for me astrology is far more serious. And it's not astrology itself I'm worried about, but peoples reaction to it. Most people have astrology pegged, they know it's scientifically baseless, and its predictions are either so vague or incorrect as to be practically meaningless. It's the fact that people allow astrology to continue to enjoy it's present level of popularity (despite lack of belief), that causes me concern. There are people who do believe that the position of stars and the planets really do dictate one's personality, emotions and fortunes. And society's tolerance of astrology only encourages and supports these beliefs.

If all of astrology consisted only newspaper horoscopes, I might be okay with the state of things, (Okay, I wouldn't). It's the fact that there are so many predators, shysters and, frankly, criminals out there that are more than willing to prey on the beliefs of these people. People who, for whatever reason are vulnerable to these con men. But not only are these con men taking these peoples money, they are also re-enforcing the belief in this ancient superstition, and this is where I believe things can become dangerous.

If you believe in astrology, and have those beliefs re-enforced, I think it leaves you open to other, more dangerous beliefs. If science has been proven wrong in your eyes regarding astrology, perhaps science is also wrong about the healing powers of prayer, crystals or reiki. In my mind it's the practitioners of these so called "alternative" therapies that are extremely dangerous, because if you can be convinced that the position of Jupiter affects your love life, maybe you can also be convinced that crystals, not chemotherapy, can cure your cancer.

Now I realize that this sounds extreme, and it is, I admit it. But if only one person is duped into accepting these types of treatments, instead of proven medical science, and is harmed because of it, that's one person too many.

Am I saying astrology is responsible for the death of those who forsake traditional therapies, no.
But I do think that tolerating such pseudoscience and superstitions like astrology creates an atmosphere where people are more willing to explore more dangerous beliefs.