That comic feels very strawman-y
Rage bait
While the gen-z comment is unwarranted, I have to side with the frog on this one (and not just because of my username), even if he’s being contrarian just to feel superior.
‘Harmless’ things like astrology and other types of magical thinking can become a larger problem if your society has a failing, inadequate or inaccessible education system. Without adequate education of critical thinking, they’re taken more and more seriously by wider swaths of society, which can foster mistrust in the scientific method, sometimes leading to deeply unhealthy outcomes, such as using crystals and other alternative ‘medicines’ for ailments instead of using scientifically backed methods.
It can also lead to increased susceptibility to manipulation via conspiracies and misinformation that confirms the mystical thinking.
Carl Sagan gets to the heart of the problem in his book, A Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle In The Dark:
“Science is more than a body of knowledge; it is a way of thinking. I have a foreboding of an America in my children’s or grandchildren’s time—when the United States is a service and information economy; when nearly all the key manufacturing industries have slipped away to other countries; when awesome technological powers are in the hands of a very few, and no one representing the public interest can even grasp the issues; when the people have lost the ability to set their own agendas or knowledgeably question those in authority; when, clutching our crystals and nervously consulting our horoscopes, our critical faculties in decline, unable to distinguish between what feels good and what’s true, we slide, almost without noticing, back into superstition and darkness.”
I think there’s another thing to pick here too. Horoscope makes some assumptions based on which time of a year you have been born. This obviously has very little effect on your life.
However the generation you’ve been born in has a massive effect on you. Each generation grows up with other kids from that generation, they learn from each other often more than from the older gen. This sorta creates a cultural gap between the generations, or generational gap as it’s called.
So when your mom says she was a hippie and got conservative along the years, it’s fair to call her a typical boomer
In absolute terms, Boomers didn’t get more conservative as they aged, they got more liberal. Just at a much slower rate than the younger generations.
You’re probably right
Time of year athletes were born correlates with hockey performance or something right?
I’ve tried to use a fact like that to bridge the gap between me and those who like astrology.
I recall hearing that there’s a correlation with being good at sports and having a birthday earlier in the school year. Reason being, at a young age, on average there’s a big advantage to being 6 months older, and that advantage can often result in a positive feedback loop. You get selected more for showing aptitude and thus receive more training, which results in being selected more.
Yeah! Was that Freakonomics?
Yes, I think that’s probably it!
Hello Froggy fellow
Hello there, my amphibian friend! You’re the first other frog I’ve seen on here :)
I had an encounter with @MisterFrog@lemmy.world recently. Lemmy is a great pond :)
The only people I know who believe in astrology aren’t gen-z
I think the context matters. Just reading the paper and ask someone what their sign is so you can laugh at the horoscope section? Not really a huge deal. First date and using it as an ice breaker to get someone to talk about themselves? Mayyyyybe. Treating it with any actual level of seriousness is definitely a danger zone.
Agree 100%
Also ahhhh! Another frog! :D
Generational divides are at least based in broadly shared material conditions, and while they shouldn’t be used to make assumptions about individuals, they can be used to draw conclusions about large populations as a whole. Astrology simply has no basis whatsoever for anything.
Yep. When comparing differences between generations you’ll find them but if you compare the differences between groups with different horoscopes, you likely wont find much.
Generational divides are at least based in broadly shared material conditions
material conditions are not the primary factor, imho.
your shared experience and life expectations differ wildly, depending on whether you saw the berlin wall or the twins going down in your formative years.
Also Gen-Z typically refers to people born during a particular political/economic climate. Gen-Z in America is definitely not the same as Gen-Z in Russia or China.
“general era of one’s birth” has a lot more impact on well… everything… About a person’s life Way more than “time of year”
You are way more likely to be similar to the people born in the 5-10 years around you than to people born 50 years prior but in the same month.
But hey, as long as it’s just for fun and you aren’t basing major life altering decisions on things… Why would I care if you like giggling at the little blurbs in newspapers about how ridiculous capricorns are when mars is in retrograde.
Why would I care
because then you have to ask what other stuff they do regardless of accepted facts and science. do they cast votes “for fun” too?
Did… Did you down vote your own comment? I’m still not sure how federated votes work, but for me on startrek.website it says 0 up 1 down.
Someone downvoted it and I don’t upvote anything unless I find it really funny.
Astrology has one valid use.
If you’re a Virgo, it means your parents had Christmas sex
Frankly the amount of people in my country that make decisions based on astrologers’ advice is staggering. If people just did it for fun maybe I would think it’s okay but they actually pay scammers and make assumptions about people just from their sign, which is actual stereotyping in contrast to what is shown in the comic
just fun
Yeah, no.
People use astrology to make actual life decisions and then call it fun
Astrology is just temporal racism.
This is the best thing I’ve ever read
Good point!
I knew a girl, whose mother sold off her house because a mystic/fortune teller/crystal fellator/astrologist told her to.
Now, whether she just inferred this on her own, or the scam artist explicitly suggested it, the outcome was the same.
Making real life decisions based off a set of tarot cards is not wise.
Your cohort when you grow up can predict your development because people of a particular generation share a great multitude of environmental factors.
Edit: this does not mean we should foster intergenerational conflict.
Everyone is stupid
Imagine if particle physics got popularized for 10 centuries.
I believe that there are these tiny people called Quarks and they like to spin and have charming personalities
Astrology and religion seems like that. Something that once made sense and then got sorta socially digested.
10 centuries? It’s way faster than that.
Have you seen all the “quantum” rebranding in today’s pseudoscientific bullshit? You know the type, the assholes selling you magic baubles to rebalance your “energy levels”, “detox” yourself etc.
That frog is obviously a Capricorn.
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