reasons indicating the unreliability of horoscopes
A Horoscope refers to an astrological chart based on the relative positions of the sun, stars, moon, and planets at the time of an individual’s birth typically used in the forecasting of the individual’s future and a description of their character. Horoscopes have been in use for more than two millenniums and continue to be used in the modern generation as a form of reflecting the inherent characteristics and patterns of an individual’s future. Although horoscopes continue to be a popular means of foretelling the future, they cannot be used as a source of reliable information indicating an individual’s fortunes.
Various reasons indicate the unreliability of horoscopes as a means of describing an individual’s character and predicting their future. One of the reasons is the shift in the astronomical constellations of the zodiac that form the basis of the astrological charts used in the determination of horoscopes. The astrological chart is based on the path of the sun as seen from the revolving earth, whereby the passage through the constellation leads to the twelve zodiac signs. However, through precession, a continual wobble of the earth around its axis, there has been an alteration of the positions of the constellations. The above means that there has been a shift in the positions of the twelve zodiac signs as observed during the chart’s creation compared to what is observable today. Therefore, this implies that what an individual thinks is their zodiac sign may not be accurate, and thus the corresponding horoscope inaccurate. The above reason indicated that the reliability of the information contained in horoscopes is unreliable.
Another indicator that horoscopes cannot be used as a reliable source of information is the lack of conclusive scientific evidence indicating the accuracy of the knowledge gained from them. Numerous scientific studies having been carried out to establish the reliability of the information contained in horoscopes. However, there has been a lack of conclusive evidence indicating that the information contained in the horoscopes can reliably show an individual’s character, mood, or their future based on their date of birth. An example is a study carried out by Hartman et al. (2006), data from 400 subjects revealed no evidence of the existence of a correlation between the date of birth of the individuals and their differences in intelligence, character, and personality.
An additional pointer to the unreliability of the information contained in horoscopes is the nature of the information provided in the horoscope readings. The information provided in horoscopes is vague and may ultimately be appealing to anyone due to the generality of the statements. The messages contained in horoscopes are often open to numerous interpretations leading to the probability that any individual may interpret the information to fit in with their lives. The above may be exemplified by an experiment carried out by a psychologist, Bertram Forer, who administered a personality test to numerous individuals and gave them a horoscope assessment from their results. According to Forer (1949), most of the subjects in the study found the assessment to be correct despite all of them being given the same evaluation.
From the discussion above, it is evident that the validity of the information contained in horoscopes may be challenged. Various reasons indicate that the information provided in horoscopes may be untrue; one of the reasons is the unreliability of the basis through which the twelve zodiac signs are determined. Others are the lack of scientific evidence supporting the reliability of horoscopes and the lack of precise information given in horoscope readings. Therefore horoscopes cannot be deemed as being a reliable source of information.