Opinion polls show that about a third of people believe in astrology. And especially the fact that fate depends on the sign of the zodiac. Obscurantists? Not quite, says Mark A. Hamilton of the University of Connecticut. And he substantiates his opinion in an article published in the latest issue of Comprehensive Psychology.
The analysis carried out by the scientist showed that the connection between a person's character and who he is according to the horoscope still exists. Hamilton identified it by comparing the personality traits of nearly three hundred prominent figures in culture, science and politics with the dates of their birth.
Astrologers believe that the stars and planets are simply obliged to influence people.
Especially many celebrities were among Sagittarius, Capricorns, Aquarius, Pisces and Aries - signs, the owners of which are considered dreamy and creative by astrologers. Slightly less - unique among the "stubborn" Taurus, Lions and Scorpions, prone to the same neurasthenia.
The scientist concludes that it is not worth trusting astrology at all, but you can use it for a rough assessment of a particular person. Since a certain "rough" connection between character traits and the sign of the zodiac can be seen at least statistically.
The nature of the "stellar" connection is unknown. But there are hypotheses on this score.
For example, according to the Russian researcher Yevgeny Vinogradov, gifted people are more often born in winter. The scientist came to this conclusion in the same way as his follower Hamilton. He also wrote down the dates of birth of famous artists, poets, writers, scientists - he checked more than 20 thousand people, in addition, he studied the biographies of 757 Nobel laureates from 61 countries.
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The peak of the birth of geniuses fell at Vinogradov in February, the decline - in August. A similar pattern, the researcher assured, operates in the Southern Hemisphere, but strictly the opposite: more celebrities are born in June, when it is winter, and less in February.
Who knows, maybe astrology is based on statistics - observations collected over hundreds of years?
Vinogradov explained the phenomenon by solar flares, the number of which usually increases from January to March. It is possible that the increased solar activity somehow affects the brain of the newborn and it receives an impetus in its development.
ANOTHER OPINION
Astrology is charlatanism, astrologers are liars
Here are some experiments with the help of which scientists prove the senselessness of horoscopes and their compilers: Parisian statistician Michel Gauquelin studied archival data containing the date, time and place of birth of 41,000 inhabitants of Europe. Among them were 16,000 famous scientists, artists, writers, athletes, as well as 25,000 ordinary people. Gauquelin came to the conclusion that the position of the planets and constellations at the time of a person's birth has nothing to do with his personality type and occupation.
The American physicist John McJervey investigated the distribution of birth dates of 17,000 scientists and 6,000 politicians according to the signs of the zodiac. And he did not reveal any patterns. The distribution, according to the scientist, was completely random.
Economists from George Washington University John Bennett and John Barth decided to test whether the zodiac signs really influence the future profession. In particular, scientists tested the thesis that those whose signs are "ruled" by Mars go to the military. The result was negative.
Canadian researchers selected 200 children born in early March 1958. Carefully tracked their fate and development for 25 years. Bottom line: there is no similarity between children born at the same time.
Dutch scientists invited 44 astrologers. Each was placed in a separate room so that there was no opportunity to communicate with each other. All astrologers received the same task: to compose the horoscopes of 7 people, whose dates of birth were recorded on the card. As a result, they predicted completely different events that await these people.