What is your sign? If you can answer this question you belong to 90% of adults who know their zodiac sign. This is not a surprise, the mass media, social networks and digital applications have been responsible for giving astrology a new boom. In contrast, in a survey conducted in the United States, only 57% of respondents knew their blood type. What makes astrology so special? Astrology is defined as the study of the position and movement of the stars as a means of predicting future events and knowing the character of people. It has its origin in Babylon around the year 700-450 BCE, a time when the 12 zodiacal signs were established and whose interpretation focused on predicting events for the population. It was in ancient Greece where predictions were transferred to individuals and were made based on the relative position of the stars at the time of birth. For example, that a person belongs to the sign of Gemini means that at the time of his birth the Sun (projected in the sky) was in the position corresponding to the constellation of Gemini. The Earth, as it rotates around the Sun, produces an apparent path through the various constellations. This path is known as the ecliptic. The sun sign, according to astrologers, represents our personality, self-perception, love compatibility, and basic preferences. Thus, they promise that by studying the position of the celestial bodies they can help us choose better friendships, suitable love relationships and make better decisions both professionally and financially. Three reasons to change your horoscope There are at least 3 reasons why your zodiac sign is most likely not what you think. The inopportune Ophiuchus. The Babylonians observed that there were 13 different constellations in the ecliptic; however, as they had a 12-month calendar dictated by the phases of the Moon, they decided to preserve that value and used 12 constellations to name the zodiacal signs. The Babylonians deliberately left out one: Ophiuchus. The length of the constellations. All constellations have different longitudes so they face the Sun for varying times. For example, Leo covers 37 days while Scorpio only 7. This leaves many who claim to be Scorpio out of Scorpio, among other irregularities. The precession effect Due to the gravitational influence of the Sun and the Moon, the Earth wobbles slightly, so the north pole deviates little by little, producing the precession effect. The consequence is an apparent change in the position of the constellations. Since the zodiac signs were established around 3,000 years ago, they have currently moved about a month. For someone who was born on June 1 three thousand years ago, the Sun would be in the constellation of Gemini; Currently, due to the precession movement, on June 1 the Sun is not in Gemini but in the constellation of Taurus. The most famous experiment in astrology: the Naninga astrotest In 1996 an experiment was published in which 44 astrologers tried to match the birth data (date, time and place) of 7 anonymous people with their respective personality questionnaires. The questionnaires corresponded to questions taken from the Personality Profile of the University of Berkeley and others suggested by the 44 astrologers. Aspects related to education, family, vocation, hobbies, personality, relationships, health, etc. were covered. The astrologer who managed to correctly match the 7 birth data with their respective questionnaires would win $2,500. The results were discouraging for astrology: the most skilled astrologer had 3 correct matches out of 7 and half of the participants (22) did not have a single correct answer. There are several articles that test astrology and its ability to predict. 'Spoiler alert': it fails in all of them. An astrologer has the same chances of being right about aspects of our future as anyone who bases their choices on chance. There are people who choose their partner based on zodiac signs. However, it seems that love is not dictated by the stars. A study of 10 million marriages in England and Wales showed that there is no evidence of attraction (or rejection) between the different zodiac signs. Why does it convince so many? Although it has been proven that astrology is wrong, 27 % of Americans and 23 % of French believe in it, while 46 % of Mexicans consider the horoscope to be something important in their lives. Why does that happen? Astrology is an extremely profitable business. In the United States alone, astrology applications had profits of 40 million dollars in 2019. This encourages astrology to be promoted even more on internet pages and more and more people are entering the market. But the most interesting thing is that humans are prone to errors and biases related to judgment and reasoning. This means that horoscopes fit into our mental mechanisms. Specifically, they fall into what has been defined as confirmation bias and the Forer effect. Confirmation bias shows that prior beliefs and expectations can influence the selection, retention and evaluation of evidence, that is, we look for information that supports our ideas and ignore information that contradicts them. For example, if our horoscope mentions that "it will be a day of strong contrasts" and we have a very calm day, we will simply ignore the prediction. However, if we have a real day of contrasts, the first thing we will think is: "Of course, the horoscope warned me." The Forer effect is a psychological phenomenon that consists of perceiving general and ambiguous descriptions (applicable to everyone) as if they were highly precise statements (made specifically for us). The horoscope of a serial killer In 1968 the French psychologist Michel Gauquelin published an advertisement in the newspaper. In exchange for name, address, date and place of birth, it offered those interested to receive a free 10-page personalized horoscope. A real bargain! After receiving the horoscope, 94 % of those interested declared themselves satisfied with the result and even 90 % stated that their relatives found the profile description accurate. Where is the trick? They had all received the same text! The horoscope, commissioned by Michel Gauquelin, corresponded to a serial killer born in France on January 17, 1897. Horoscopes promise certainty ("destiny is in the stars"). Therefore, it is not strange that people look for them mainly in times of great uncertainty. During the height of the covid-19 pandemic, searches related to horoscopes had their highest peak in years. Desktop Code Image for mobile, amp and app Mobile code AMP Code APP Code With this article we are not suggesting that people stop reading horoscopes as they can be an excellent source of entertainment or fun. However, we must emphasize that there is no connection between the position of the stars and our lives. And although horoscopes seem harmless and individual, we can remember that French President Charles de Gaulle, Queen Elizabeth I of England and Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi all had astrologers who helped them make decisions during their terms. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars. William Shakespeare This article was originally published in 'The Conversation' ABOUT THE AUTHOR Yersain Ely Keller de la Rosa Master in Biochemical Sciences, National Autonomous University of Mexico. (UNAM ABOUT THE AUTHOR Kevin Navarrete Researcher at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology of Pathogenic Bacteria, Institute of Microbiology, Prague, Czech Academy of Sciences
