danarhea

In an experiment which lasted decades, and involved 2,000 test subjects, studied from birth, scientists have now proven that Astrology is full of it. Astrologers have also provided proof that they are full of it by failing to predict that they are full of it.

Article is here, although I don't see how anybody with a rational mind really needs to read the article, and see the results of the study. Astrologers, on the other hand, will ignore the findings and continue to believe whatever can make them a quick buck.

Creationists will be on the same side as the scientists, for a change. However, the reason they dispute astrologers will be quite different. In actuality, they attribute everything that happens in someone's life to either God or the Devil.

Finally, I actually do have a little faith in astrology. After all, when you have to go take a crap, it is because of the influence of Uranus, an influence which is deeply rooted within the bowels of scientific fact.

jfuh

Astrology leads to astronomy, religion leads to philosophy.
Is it time to stop believing in mythical talking snakes or the old white dude with a big beard in the sky that intervenes in our daily lives?

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The facts and science of the theory of anthropogenic Global warming

tecoyah

Unless....you take LSD.


Then the yappin' serpents are pretty damn cool, and lighting the old dudes beard on fire is a damn good time (especially in flashback mode).

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Self-Banned

jfuh

Point taken, Moses was high on Mt. Sinhigh.

GarzaUK

Astrology should be considered a bit of fun, nothing more.

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They tried like hell. They called him an élitist, a radical, a socialist, a Marxist, a Muslim, an Arab, an appeaser, a danger to the republic, a threat to small children, a friend of terrorists, an enemy of Israel, a vote thief, a non-citizen, an anti-American, and a celebrity. ~ George Packer

danarhea

I did expect an answer like that from you. After all, judging from your avatar, you have had your palm red.

LLOD

Well, now……..I would suggest that ‘mythical talking snakes’ and such like, as referred to in some of these posts, actually have a lot to teach us!

I assume that the 'talking snake' being referred to is the snake that tempted Eve to taste the fruit of the tree of knowledge. If it isn’t, well, it doesn’t really matter because that is as good a story as any to use to illustrate my point.


I suggest that these myths, whatever their source, are actually meaningful and, broadly speaking, are observations, about human behaviour. Except for religious reasons, we dismiss these stories as no more than, at best, fairy stories. Yet, when such stories are interpreted, they do, in fact, provide insight into human psychology. The key to their interpretation is not to take the stories literally, but to realise that they are metaphors for human behaviour.

Let’s take the story of Adam and Eve. There’s a lot to unpack in that metaphor so I’ll give only a brief explanation. Before Eve ate that apple, she and Adam were living in the Garden of Eden. Basically, what that means is that the couple were onto a cushy number where they didn’t have to work for a living and had everything handed to them on a plate by God. The story is really about self-motivation. Some people, when they have too easy a life of it, get into a rut. They won’t lift a finger to help themselves and come to be dependent on others for a living. They become lazy and they start to vegetate. They loose the ability to take care of themselves etc., etc. This is very unhealthy for humans because under those circumstances we don’t develop as human beings – we don’t evolve, in other words. So under those circumstances, to kick-start people into action and motivate them to self-improvement, it is often necessary to make their lives uncomfortable, which is what God did by kicking that pair out of the garden.

In some respects, the Adam and Eve story is not unlike that of Cinderella. Cinderella was made to work for a living whereas the ugly sisters were not. Yet despite this, it was Cinderella who lived happily ever after, not the ugly sisters! It’s a ‘spoils the child who spares the rod’ type scenario. The ugly sisters were spoiled brats. They were not necessarily physically ugly, but being spoiled gave them ugly personalities, if you like. Cinderella was not spoiled. So she was able to live happily ever after i.e. live a healthy, fulfilling life, as a result of a healthy upbringing.

I suggest that all fairy stories and myths are interpretable in this way.

I’ll take the myth of the Minotaur as one last example. The Minotaur was a creature with a man’s body and the head of a bull. Quite literally, the Minotaur was bull-headed. To be ‘bull-headed’ means to be impetuous and obstinate. When a person behaves in a bull-headed fashion, they do not think clearly. When a person doesn’t think clearly then they easily get confused, and that confusion is represented in the myth by the Minotaur living in a maze. Mazes are very confusing places and when we are confused it is difficult to get our bearings and we easily get lost. So that story is an observation on the outcome of behaving in a 'bull-headed' fashion.

So, I suggest that far from being mere stories that grown-ups shouldn’t believe in any more, myths and fairy stories are actually extremely insightful observations about human behaviour - far in advance of modern psychology, I might add. That we dismiss them nowadays as mere stories is, I believe, because we have lost the ability to ‘read’ these stories in the way they were originally intended.

I shouldn’t have to spell it out why that loss is to the detriment of us all.

jfuh

IF I want a story about Cinderella I'll read.... Cinderella.
Since we're on Adam and eve, what possible moral enlightenment is provided by not eating from the tree of knowledge to "get knowledge"? Seems Adam and Eve's Garden of Eden is best sumed as follows: Ignorance is bliss.

RightOfCenter

Do what God says or you will die.

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The Jews killed Jesus and then tried to push blame off on the Romans. I blame the blacks.

ashurbanipal

Here is a link to the original paper if anyone is interested:

http://www.imprint.co.uk/pdf/Dean.pdf