From Radical Films - Vedic Astrology: Michael Shermer vs Jeffrey Armstrong

“In a scenario set up to debunk astrology, Jeffrey Armstrong completely outshines Michael Shermer in a way that any scientist should say is “statistically interesting.”

And…

“…The kicker. Two of the nine, unbeknownst to Jeffrey or the subjects, have their charts switched. Accuracy rating drops to 38 and 21% respectively. Switched back to true charts, accuracy goes to 94 and 92%.”

Great showing, Jeffrey Armstrong and thanks for Copper for the link!

Dear Elsa,

I’m increasingly into Astrology, but I’m not sure my spouse buys into it. So I don’t really talk about signs and houses as much as I would like to… just in case she thinks I’m making decisions about her using all this astrology!

How do I talk about astrology in a way that includes her, and doesn’t make me sound like I’m in a cult?!

Concerned Husband
United States
Continue reading Open Question: Talking To Skeptical Friends, Lovers Or Spouses About Astrology

Do you admit to being an astrologer or to having an interest in astrology? If so, how do people react and how do you react to their reaction?

I am challenged only very rarely and I don’t react at all. In fact, the last time I was challenged was in 2000. I remember this because it started me writing! I posted a link to an article on a study by British Telephone that found people did talk more when the Moon was full and a science-minded guy (codasaurus) came on the board to flame me.

I told him I could care less what he thought of astrology but added that astrologer, Dennis Elwell cared very deeply what people like him thought and perhaps he should read his book, Cosmic Loom: The New Science of Astrology.

“It is written for people like you,” I said. “He is addressing the scientific community, he likes to do this but I do not. What do you think? You think just because you see a passing-by astrologer, they are going to want to stop and argue with you? You’re out of your mind…”

But unable to comprehend the fact you cannot make someone be interested in something (arguing with skeptics) they find boring, codasaurus kept coming. And he came back and back and back until he launched my writing and the rest is history. I have been writing daily for nearly 8 years now.

If you cop to an interest in astrology, what are your experiences with skeptics?

I’ve got a lot of Capricorn in my chart and consequently I was exposed to more than my share of “old men” when I was a “kid”. And these old men told me all kinds of things, all of which turned out to be correct as far as I can recall.

And what’s funny is a lot of them were drunk! Yeah. I worked in an old man’s bar when I was 19 so many of the old men I talked to were drunker than snot but they still turned out to be completely correct. They’d been around the block, see? That was all there was to it and by this time, I’ve been around the block myself. So I am in effect an old man and I am telling you the world is not going to end in 2012 and I’ll tell you how I know this.

I know this because the world was going to end when I was a kid. Not once but several times. Four or five times the world was going to end but this one time it was really, really, for sure going to end and in case you had any doubt, you could read the warnings from the billboards on the highways in the town where I grew up because they were there. THE END OF THE WORLD, OKAY? IT’S COMING!!!!!!!!!

And being 8 years old you might imagine I’d have been scared but I was not. Because by the time I was 8, I’d already seen way too much of life and I was more than willing to leave. I was willing to die, I would gladly die, so I looked on this as an opportunity to escape.

So the day came and as I recall some people were going to be lifted up before the thing happened. Before the earth turned into a fire ball or whatever. Not many… maybe three or four people… ::smiles::: But I wanted to be one of them, if possible. For the adventure, see?

I mean think about it. It’s the end of the world. Do you want to burn up or do you want to go flying into the sky? There is no question. So I got up early that day and I went outside… way outside into the open.

Now I grew up in the desert so it was all “open” but I didn’t know that. And I am Capricorn. I am innately cautious so I made sure the path from me to the sky was completely unobstructed. I didn’t sit under a tree for example. I had this figured out.

So I went outside and stood there and waited to lifted and… nothing. Filled with faith, I waited some more and some more and some more and… nothing.

I started to feel sad but I kept myself standing there… nothing. Eventually, legs tired, I sat down in the dirt and still… nothing.

As the day progressed, my posture slumped. I wound up with my head in my hands, and by the end of the day I started to cry as reality began to dawn… I was not getting out of this life. God what a gyp!

I stayed outside the whole day with no water, the hot desert sun burning my skin. Would I want to be inside getting a drink of water when the sky shuttle arrived? Of course not.

Eventually I was called inside to make dinner for my family. I could not believe it. I was counting on this thing and I could not believe I’d been tricked. I swear it was one of the saddest days of my life so you know what?

You all prepare for the end of the world if you wish, but me? Been there, done that.

What about you?

People who don’t like astrology but do like me, always wind up asking me the same thing. How can a person as smart as you believe that planets have any impact on our lives? And I am always utterly baffled by this.

And I ask them where they think the line is. Just exactly where is the line between a person… you or me, and another person, or for that matter a planet in the sky?

See, I don’t understand. Because most people would agree that you can have a feeling… you can be in love with someone who is half way around the world. And those feelings travel. That person feels right there in the room with you. There is no separation at all. You are in England and they are in Africa, yet they are affecting you. Hmmm…

So the line that separates you from another entity is obviously pretty far out there. You can love across town, across the state and across the continent so why in the world would you someone think they are not connected to the planets in the sky? Is it because there is a line 10 feet above the earth that prevents connection? Or 20 feet out, or a 100? How could that be?

And I mention this today because of the extreme situation in the sky. Six planets are clustered in Scorpio today. Think about that. Up above, all the planets are stacked up against one another. Don’t you think that matters?

See, I can never figure out how people can diss astrology, but on a day like today it’s especially unfathomable to me that anyone could think what is going in with the planets in the sky is insignificant. I just can’t see how in the world could this be? How could all this energy be concentrated out there and… nothing!

To me it’s like saying the Sun doesn’t warm your skin when it shines. It’s like saying the Sun does not effect you because it’s way up there in the sky. And I’m sorry, but to me this is completely laughable. And I just wanted to say so on a day like today when things are so intense and concentrated, like the Sun burning your skin on a 120 degree day, they beg not to be denied.