My grandfather believes in the idea of karma. He has a cause-effect view of the world we live in, like a lot of other people, I know. The idea is, that for anything to happen, something or someone has to be the cause. This is very clear in our everyday world, but interestingly, provides us with the classic chicken-egg problem.
Supporters of the cause-effect theory have not yet come up with a solution to this one. Argument being, if everything needs a cause, then we are talking about an infinite progression, and infinity itself suggests no cause.
People explain the complexity of the universe by suggesting that a higher power created it. But that pushes the problem just a little farther back. If we are to rationally explain an effect by a cause, then we must be able to explain the cause as well. Otherwise, we might as well not bother to explain the effect! What is the difference between the statements ’’The universe is infinite in time’’ and ’’The universe is finite in time. God created it. God is infinite in time’’ . Look carefully, there is none.
One would do well to remember never to criticise things that one doesnt have experience with and knowledge about. Being a cynic is fashionable, sarcasm attracts more than genuine sincerity. But the objective of this review (?) is not to criticise astrology, but merely to explain why I feel it falls in the same category as the above arguments.
Having cautiously treaded onto a sensitive subject which embraces people’s beliefs and religious ideas, lets start by questioning the logic of this so called science. The idea, from what I gather, is that distant huge objects, influence events happening on our planet, due to their force on the energy field surrounding us.
Why a particular moon, for instance, instead of concentrating on staying in its orbit, would choose to concentrate on so ridiculous a task, is unexplained. Basically, astrology, it seems to me, makes some very drastic assumptions on the importance of the human race in the overall picture of things; assumptions which may not be true, and in fact, cannot be.
I hope I will not sound overly sarcastic in suggesting that more than the position of a star when you were being born, it would do well to worry about the position of the midwife who is assisting!
People often say, that not all that is there, is seen. The ideal argument often posed, is that we cannot see the nucleus of an atom, but it is still there. But if we pause to think along this line of argument, it would be clear, that any irrational line of thought, can also be explained along the same lines.
When the question of personal beliefs come into the picture, we have only our logic and our mathematics to go on. Logic may have its limitations, but if logic says a certain thing is true, and if the logic is right, then that thing is true. Logic has showed the existence of the smallest particles, and that is why we know they exist!
And frankly, I detect a total absense of logic in these astrology, palm reading ’’sciences’’. And that is a dangerous thing.
All I can say to the people who disagree with me is, invent a maths for your science, if the traditional math does not work. Use that math to map astrology to a logical base. And then I am sure, there will be lesser cynics.
Apologies in advance for reviewing the matter of the magazine, rather than the astrology magazine itself.