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An
Criticism of Astrology.
One wonders where he finds it? |
On 21 August 1999 the Danish daily newspaper Information brought an article
by astronomer Mogens Winther, one of the most zealous critics of astrology
in Denmark.
In his article, he
makes the statement that astrologers commonly assume Pisceans to be dustbin
people - without bothering to substantiate it, but then anyone would be
hard put to do so.
From this starting
pont - fabricated by himself for the occasion - Mogens Winter wanders
by the tortuous paths of his own associations and arrives at a comparison
of categorisations used (still according to Mogens Winther) by astrologers
and the typologies favoured by totalitarian regimes.
Mogens Winther's scribblings
also convey they erroneous information to the public that my business
astrology conferences at the Hotel d'Angleterre in Copenhagen are arranged
by the ISBA (the International Society of Business Astrologers). I hereby
officially deny this; the conferences are planned and held by me.
Reply
to Mogens Winther - Information the 27th of August 1999.
REFLECTIONS ON READING
MOGENS WINTHER'S ARTICLE IN "INFORMATION" OF 21 AUGUST 1999
Do you know the feeling
that there are certain things you do not want to happen even to your worst
enemy? Now such a thing has happened to myself and my colleagues - the
unthinkable - that we have been caught with our trousers down in the full
daylight of publicity.
It happened on 21
August 1999. Having made a close study of the astrological community -
or perhaps just the community of business astrologers - Mogens Winther
was now in a position to reveal to the wondering public that he himself
had single-handed - and according to himself usually in a condition of
sobriety - uncovered the fact that we (business astrologers) are nothing
but a pack of loathsome and vulgar closet Nazis.
Not for one moment
abandoning his usual thoroughness, objectivity, researcher's spirit, and
an unquenchable, quite indomitable love of Truth, Mogens Winther has penetrated
to the very bottom of the dustbin and - believe it or not - here the zealous
man finds a large heap of fish.
Mogens Winther is
an enlightened and educated man, so naturally he is unshakeable in his
conviction. The heap of fish can have been put there by noone other than
the business astrologers in Denmark today.
Has he not - all too
often - heard the members of this abominable group of practitioners speak
of fish and dustbins? This is the limit!!! The whole nation must be told.
At least then it cannot claim later on that it has not been warned.
Ladies and
Gentlemen!
Nazism has invaded
Denmark. So far only its dustbins. But beware! It certainly has no intention
of staying there. Its efforts to ingratiate itself are targeted particularly
at the business community, which it wines and dines, thus succeeding in
infiltrating a group that detests fish but is apparently motivated to
adopt the Nazi doctrine.
A thousand thanks,
Mogens Winther! We shall not ignore your warnings, and we are looking
forward to a future with you to watch over the good people of Denmark.
We shall be happy to feed our watchdog, and your contributions to their
entertainment have already made the youngsters
Can
Astrology be verified scientifically ?
For those of my readers, who wish scientific evidence put on the table
before they even start to commit themselves to the astrology, I can only
say: " Astrology is not a discipline being capable of fulfilling
the demands for a scientifical testing at the present time! "
As far as I know, there are no other tools of analysis. Within, for example,
science you work with a lot of questions, for which you cannot find scientific
evidence. It is obvious that it works in practice, but you do not know
why. This also applies to astrology. Finally it had never been the theory
that determinated the empiricism. The gravity existed and worked every
time, also before we became acquainted with gravity.
However there are some of the criteria which are determinated in connection
with a scientifical testing, that we astrologers are capable of fulfilling.
I can mention the empirical part. (How does things work in real life).
The demand for inter-subjectivity is the astrologer also capable of fulfilling.
This means that different astrologers are capable of reaching the same
result from the the same horoscope.
Business astrology - Boloney ?
What is business astrology ? - A serious offer to the possibilities /
risks a business has - Boloney - A new trend among managers. The attitudes
and the answers are plenty. But the characteristic for the majority, regardless
of them being opponents or sympathizers, is the lack of knoledge within
the astrology. Apparently this is no obstacle for laymen in this connection.
Everybody has an opinion on this subject and gladly makes statements.
This shows taht the interest is at present, and the subject has been debated
in the press especially during the last ten years.
It is usually very hard for astrologers to intervene in the debate in
connection with the articles written on the subject. This is why I have
chosen to use the two following articles as examples on teh misunderstandings
we are up against, without having a possibility of defending ourselves.
The first article is from an article in Politiken 19 March 1996. In this
article the managing director of the Managers Principal Organization (LH)
Svend Askær states, that the organization going through LH's list of members
did not find that the constellations, which according to the astrologers
ought to be the majority especially among managers, were predominant among
the members. No, of course not ! Why should this be the case ? No business
astrologer would participate in a such project, which is not serious and
therefore serves no sensible purpose. Any normally thinking human being
is able to see, that there are more than 12 different " types of
human beings".
We hope that LH spends its time on something more constructive under normal
circumstances. The reason for the lack of coincidence between certain
constellations and members of LH, could perhaps be that LH was not sufficiently
selective when admitting the " managing" members.
The other example is also from Politiken. Specified on 9 April 1996. It
was brought as an article from one of the "serious critics"
of the astrology, namely chief psysician, specialist in psychiatry Mogens
Jacobsen. He is always a participant, when the debate is current, and
it did not take long before he joined this discussion. Mogens Jacobsen
has brought up some allegations, which are well known and really have
not changed the last 20 years.
By
Mogens Jacobsen, Chief Physician, Specialist in Psychiatry
(is brought with the author's permission)
The newspaper POLITIKEN's Trade Magazine brought on March 30 a 2-page
contribution about astrology with the heading, 'Managers find the answer
in the sun and the moon'. It is correct that more and more managers
make use of astrologers when they want to know more about themselves,
about members of their staff, about the future of the company and the
best transactions on the stock exchange. Astrology seems to flourish
just as on the times of the Faeroes or during magic-occult peak periods
in the Middle Ages.
As a psychiatrist I have, with special interest of the magic conceptions,
for 20 years studied the astrology. When an astrologer states in the
above article that you must absolutely have tried it yourself, then
I can reassure her that I have had several horoscopes cast by recognised
astrologers. They gave many partly contradictory particulars about me
and my future. The most correct statement was made by an astrologer
who knew me and my work in advance. Next best was a horoscope where,
for the sake of the test, I had given incorrect time and place of birth(!).
Astrologers have complained that apparently new scientific investigations
of their assertions have been stopped. To this a project leader at the
University of California replied that numerous, thoroughly scientific
tests and analyses have really been made world-wide, but as they continuously
turned out to be negative, more funds would not wasted on this project.
Further investigations could be transferred to psychologists who have
an interest in the illusion formation of the human being.
The many test carried out, I cannot describe here, but I can imply the
following:
A large group of astrologers in USA could not (apart from the accidental
limit) sort out 662 horoscopes, of which 331 were from people who had
committed suicide and 331 persons who lived happily. All horoscopes
were limited to the period for the suicides. In the same way, French
astrologers could not, based on horoscopes regarding important life
events sort out 623 murderers and an ordinary control group. The well-known
researcher in evidence swindle, James Randi, showed in a sensational,
direct TV programme in USA the following:
12 persons should to a group of astrologers inform them all about his/her
person, development, important life events and work. Everything except
the birth constellation (time and place). The astrologers then predicted
under which constellation each person may have been born. Then the persons
should place themselves under a poster according to which constellation
they were really born. Not one stood under the constellation predicted
to them. The same James Randi had, moreover, promised to donate his
entire fortune and property to the one who in a correct, scientific
test could prove that the astrology functioned. In the past year he
has not lost a cent. He has promised the same about biorhythms which
are also now used by the management in several Danish companies.
In order to understand why many people often experience that astrological
assertions and predictions are correct, we shall catch a hold of the
self-deceived trick which our own psychology plays upon us. It concerns,
i. a., self-fulfilling prophecies (Rosentalsental-effect) according
to which people themselves tend to make the prophecies be true by acting
according to them or simply change assessment and memory in such a way
that the prophecy appears to them to be correct. To this comes statistic
blindness where you only remember a few of the assertions from the astrologer
as these could be brought to be correct, whereas you repress the major
percentage of allegations which are either incorrect or appear to be
imprecise or ambiguous. This is very clearly shown by analysing video
recordings from astrologer consultations.
Here you will also discover how quickly the astrologer (conscious or
subconscious) arranges the allegations after small positive signals
(smile, nod, etc.) from the client. Concerning statistic blindness,
the mass media also joins in the game. 'Astrologer predicted Black Monday'
(stock-exchange crisis 1987) appeared on the front pages. Whereas the
real exiting headline ought to have been 'More than 2000 company astrologers
could not foresee Black Monday'.
In the real world the astrology experiences defeat after defeat - and
more and more seek the astrologers. Why? Some are of the opinion that
the modern world picture (cosmology, quantum physics) and new technology
have become so complicated and frightening that we seek answer and comfort
in magic fantasies. Religion has lost much of its value today. Other
express it in a way that we are marked by an existential fear of life/death,
the more we discover the life-threatening developments on earth. This
causes a need for refuge through magically imagined reformulating of
reality. Unfortunately, it is highly dangerous to toss head and tails
how the reality does look like.
You cannot have confidence in a manager who believes in astrology or
biorhythms - and uses it. This reveals namely a person who puts aside
real facts and lacks the ability of critical and rational thinking.
In Denmark there are many examples of managers who involves astrologer
or biorhythmician when employing new staff members. In USA there is
a debate to the effect that, during periods of retrenchment, dismissals
take place according to how good or bad constellation and planets are
for the person in question. If a manager shows these tendencies, he
or she should be tapped on the shoulder and receive the message, 'You
have a problem - we are worried about you'.
Astrologers themselves now state that they foresee a boom in their employment
with enterprises, sports clubs, theatres and in organisations. Consequently,
applicants receiving refusal of employment, and knowing that an astrologer
or biorhythmician have been involved in the employment procedure should
approach their trade union which ought to gather such cases and intervene.
The applicants have thus been subjected to a treatment that is both
non-objective, discriminating and irrational.
Reply
to Mogens Jacobsen:
As it appears from
the above-mentioned, Mogens Jacobsen has during the years been consulting
different astrologers, who (quotation): "gave conflicting information
on me and my future".
I have been married for 20 years with an extraordinary earth-bound,
rational and concrete thinking man, who has the same attitude as Mogens
Jacobsen to all this hocus-pocus. In my husbands world this also includes
the work of psychologists and psychiatrists. Regarding the last mentioned
group is normally his standard answer, when I try to argue for the good
work of the psychiatrists as following: "See five of them, and
get five different diagnoses".
There are unfortunately many fatal examples, that my husband could be
right. This illustrates that in all connections, in which one works
with human beings, one has to do with something that is difficult to
handle. This does not mean, that most people does not make a great effort
to do their jobs well. It is however so, that in all lines of trade
there are both very competent and some less competent employees.
But in especially the history of the psychiatrists there are many examples
on them working rashly, and here there is no possibilities for the patient
to change the course of events through " self-compliancement of
prophecies", as described by Mogens Jacobsen in connection with
astrological consultations. (the Rosental effect.)
We all remember the terrible story from Frederiksberg Hospital in the
sixties, where hundreds of people were exposed to long treatments with
LSD, because of the lack of knowledge (lack of respect for the human
being ?). This happened without a parallel therapeutical treatment.
It was on the experimental stage, as the the full effect of the drug
was unknown. In other words there was a lack of scientific guidelines
to support the use of the drug.
The consequenses were catastrophic for the patients, and lead to many
cases of suicide or disablement. The case was brought out into the open,
not by representatives for the medical profession, but by a journalist
from the daily paper Information. I will not defend possible hocus-pocus
(as M.J calls it) from the world of the astrology with the fact that
this happens within all fields, also the medical. I just wish to underline
that one have to be very critical in the choise of both astrologer,
psychologists and psychiatrists.
Another example which Mogens Jacobsen uses in his attempt to disrepute
the astrology, and especially its lack of scientific, is some of the
most non-scientific I have read. Astrologers was in a " scientifical"
investigation asked to sort 662 horoscopes belonging to persons, who
for the one part had comitted suicide, and for the other lived happily.
Se the article above !
The cause of this "serious experiment" not succeeding could
be that there in no horoscope are indications of for example suicide.
Thank God ! We always have our free choise, when it comes to dealing
with our problems.
The investigation is simply made on a basis of a lack of insight in
what astrology is, and how a horoscope works. That one can make astrologers
participate in this sort of parlour games has always been puzzling me.
Murderers and other folks are we according to Mogens Jacobsen nor capable
of separating. What can the astrologer ? At any rate not this kind of
games. But what I can do is telling Mogens Jacobsen, that the constellations
you find in the horoscope of the murderer normally are identical with
the constellations of for example the senior managers in trade and industry
and professional athletes. This gives food for thoughts - maybe the
free will means something.
The last of MJ's statements I would like to comment, is the fact that
people often experience that the predictions and allegations really
do happen. According to MJ this is caused by "the self-deceptional
trick of our own mind". Through this we have the possibility of
sorting the astrologic information, and the result of this is that we
remember the positive answers and represses the less positive. Still
M.J has made a lot of recordings from astrologers consultations, which
clearly have shown that the astrologer reacts on little smiles, noding
and so on. For your information I can inform M.J that my consultations
happens in a different way. Before the arrival of the client, the whole
analysis is recorded on tape, durance app. 1 - 1½ hours. The client
and yours truely listen to the tape together and talk about it for app.
3 hours. Here it is all put down ! All smiles, burps or confirming nods
can change the analysis, no matter from which side of the table they
may come.
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