Topics Science

Question I have a question about what one might call "scientific astrology." "Astrology" as a predictive indicator, let's assume for discussion, has been discredited. "Astrology" as a coincident indicator, perhaps, let's not be too hasty. Imagine first an agrarian society barely above subsistence level. In the spring, everyone is out in the fields, including newborn infants in their equivalent of strollers or baby seats. In the winter, everyone is indoors all day. Recent psychological evidence seems to indicate that the development of people's personalities might be heavily influenced by their early childhood environment. So wouldn't the conjunction of these two observations provide a grounds upon which some form of astrology - not as causative, but as correlative - might actually have empirical evidence to support it?

Accepted:
November 8, 2012

Comments

You suggest that personality might be dependent on the time of year at which one is born, but for reasons other than the positions of the stars. That's a reasonable hypothesis with various possible mechanisms (you suggest the annual cycles of indoor and outdoor living plus some unstated human developmental mechanisms that are sensitive to external climate during specific intervals in infancy). No such mechanisms have been detected yet, but they shouldn't be ruled out a priori. But why call this theory "scientific astrology"? It has very little in common with astrology, which, at the very least, is about the influence of stars on human lives. They simply make some of the same predictions.