Arthur C. Clarke was wrong. He was not a Sagittarius; born on 16 December, he was actually an Ophiuchus, the newly revealed thirteenth sign of the Zodiac. Among the characteristics of Ophiuchus are mentioned "interpreter of dreams" and "one who reaches for the stars;" apt for Arthur C Clarke, wouldn't you say?
Someone (a French philosopher/scientist, I think) once said something along the lines of: "tell me the position of every atom in the universe and I can predict exactly what is going to happen in the future"? This was when the laws of classical physics - and forces such as electromagnetism, gravity, and the strong and weak nuclear forces - were beginning to be understood. Scientists of the day must have really felt that they were close to "understanding the mind of God."
If we believe that the entire universe is made up of particles that are all subject to the forces of nature then we have to accept that at any instant these particles can move in only one particular way. Which means that the arrangement of the particles on any date can be predicted, provided we have the information and the computing power. Isn't this what astrology, somewhat ambitiously, attempts to do?
You are a mass of matter being subjected to the pulls and pushes of every other bit of matter in the universe. It would be possible to accurately predict your course through space and time if it were possible to know the position of every atom in the universe at the moment of your birth. This of course is not possible. So astrologists make a crude (very crude) compromise. They ignore the influence of distant galaxies. These influences, in any case, come evenly from all around us and conceivably cancel one another out. The bodies in our solar system, on the other hand, are close by and their push and pull cannot be ignored. This can be roughly computed. The method of course cannot be accurate, but it has the potential to indicate a general trend.
An astrologer once told me that only about 60% of what he predicted would be correct. "60%" is no doubt an optimistic estimate but can you doubt that the sun and the moon, Saturn and Jupiter, and Venus and Mars hold you in their invisible arms and lead you through this cosmic dance.
Someone (a French philosopher/scientist, I think) once said something along the lines of: "tell me the position of every atom in the universe and I can predict exactly what is going to happen in the future"? This was when the laws of classical physics - and forces such as electromagnetism, gravity, and the strong and weak nuclear forces - were beginning to be understood. Scientists of the day must have really felt that they were close to "understanding the mind of God."
If we believe that the entire universe is made up of particles that are all subject to the forces of nature then we have to accept that at any instant these particles can move in only one particular way. Which means that the arrangement of the particles on any date can be predicted, provided we have the information and the computing power. Isn't this what astrology, somewhat ambitiously, attempts to do?
You are a mass of matter being subjected to the pulls and pushes of every other bit of matter in the universe. It would be possible to accurately predict your course through space and time if it were possible to know the position of every atom in the universe at the moment of your birth. This of course is not possible. So astrologists make a crude (very crude) compromise. They ignore the influence of distant galaxies. These influences, in any case, come evenly from all around us and conceivably cancel one another out. The bodies in our solar system, on the other hand, are close by and their push and pull cannot be ignored. This can be roughly computed. The method of course cannot be accurate, but it has the potential to indicate a general trend.
An astrologer once told me that only about 60% of what he predicted would be correct. "60%" is no doubt an optimistic estimate but can you doubt that the sun and the moon, Saturn and Jupiter, and Venus and Mars hold you in their invisible arms and lead you through this cosmic dance.
No comments:
Post a Comment