Astrology CANNOT be real | Dr. Phil Plait interview 

A Dr. Phil that is actually worth listening to.

Astrology is one of the funniest red flags a person can drop. I love being asked what my sign is, it's my cue to immediately exit the conversation.

Love Phil Plait. His book Bad Astronomy was my first foray into scientific skepticism. It opened my eyes to a great and wonderful world of heroes who dedicate a chunk of their lives to debunking conspiracy claptrap and answering nonsense with good sense. Phil made me a better person, no question. Thanks, Phil.

The more people feel like they are losing control in their life, the more they tend to magical thinking.

It frustrated me how many people i knew in psychology majors who believed in astrology

Phil Plait is very much worth listening to. Astrology is barely scratching the surface of his expertise. He's a smart man, and communicates his knowledge quite well.

Dr. Phil was born in Capricorn, with uranus uprising with aries in the ascendance. It explains his negativity 😀

If the position of the constellations on the day you were born determined your dominant personality traits, wouldn't that also affect everyone on the planet, or at least everyone in the general vicinity? How do people escape being affected by the same forces you're being affected by? 🤔

Wow, look at all the pseudo-scientific woo woo in the comments. If you're mad at David, or confused why he did this video, then maybe this channel isn't for you.

We've got here in Finland a society called Skeptics that opposes all kinds of superstition. They made kind of horoscopes on the constellation of trams in Helsinki. They gave them to people who didn't know they weren't real horoscopes. Many of them said they portrayed their character well or quite well. 😄

A former friend tried to cast my chart, and gave up. She is an amateur at everything who fancies herself an expert on everything. She buys the Wee Moon book every year, and photocopied my personality synopsis for me. It said that I march to my own drum. I do. That turned out to be why she quickly found me defective and rejected me in a hateful way. She is proudly approaching 36 years of togetherness with an abusive, emotionally constipated, cranky and odorous old fart. How cosmic and evolved.

It's disheartening how many people are so willing to believe things without evidence. The religious and superstitious have always been guilty of this. They don't even understand that those who make positive claims hold the burden of proof. Grown adults should know better.

I was dating a woman who fancied herself an astrologer. Unbeknownst to her I had entered the wrong B-day on the dating site (by a couple months, in case of data breach B-day is useful info for identity theft) I let her go on for a bit about how I was a "Typical Capricorn" before dropping the bomb. She got mad, then made up excuses to continue with her confirmation bias. You can lead a mare to water.....

Bringing Dr. Plait to discuss Astrology is like getting an atheist to argue for Christianity. After less than two minutes of speaking, he displays an absolute lack of knowledge in the subject on which he is interviewed. I, too, have a PhD in Computer Engineering (Carnegie Mellon), worked in early AI (1984), co-founded a technology company that went public, blah, blah, blah. I have studied quantum physics, general relativity, cosmology, you name it. In my spare time I have been an astrologer (50 years) and now that I am retired, I'm a "philosopher of astrology", although more explicitly a philosopher of Wholeness which, when applied to Time, yields the concept of a "time-whole" or cycle. (It is based on Holism as defined by Jan Smuts in his 1926 book: "Holism and Evolution".) Astrology is not a science any more than Mathematics is a science. It is a language, a symbolic algebra, to study what could be called "cyclology", the study of cycles or, more accurately, of "cyclicity". The ignorance displayed by Dr. Plait, such as saying that astrology believes in a causal connection between the astral bodies and our lives, makes the video a joke. And he uses mechanistic causality to top it all, when in Astrology we must talk about holistic causality! This is the only kind of causality that may create, and it is the kind implied in evolution. Mechanistic causality cannot create because of its conservation laws, the effect is (at best) the same as the cause, and often less due to energy lossage as heat, for example. The reductionist mentality of "scientists" (remember, I was trained and excelled as one) is what have us with so many misconceptions and why we cannot fully understand chemistry, biology, or, sadly, astrology. Reductionism has given us subatomic particles that do not exist, in the sense of manifestation in reality. They are defined as excitations of a quantum field, not as "things" (wholes). In Biology, reductionism has given us the Selfish Gene (seminal book by Richard Dawkins) that simply doesn't explain evolution, as noted famously by Dr. Dennis Noble, Stuart Kauffman, and others. When Dr. Plait spends as much time studying astrology as he apparently spends debunking his sophomoric understanding of the topic, I will gladly listen again. Until then, perhaps stick to politics, David.

All I know is, if Mars is in Uranus, you'll have a sticky bum. 😊

Is there any need to understand why people believe Trump when there are people who believe this nonsense.

I'm an amateur astronomer and so am not defending astrology. The framework upon which astrology is built is not does not concern itself with the distances to the various bodies. Rather, the only determinant is the angular arrangement on the sky, and with respect to their placement in the sky as seen from the rotating Earth. Indeed, the astrologer makes use of astronomical data and so makes very accurate charts for a particular time and place. It's all about angles, and so should be debunked on that basis. Invoking such forces as gravity misses the target. So too the fact of the differing angular arc on the ecliptic contained within the zodiacal constellations' modern borders. And also the fact of the constellation Ophiuchis occupying a small part of the ecliptic between Scorpius and Sagittarius, which some say must therefore result in 13 signs. The 12 signs are all precisely 30 degrees in arc, and indeed precession has resulted in their shifting about 1 full sign out of place since the scheme was established a couple millennia ago.

Tell this to East Indians who use Vedic astrology to arrange marriages.

There is always going to be someone in the world who will believe in something you don't. What he is saying may be true or not, but there will always be an opposite to his opinion, positive or negative.

Tide comes in; tide goes out. Turns out I *CAN* explain that!

14:14 Speaking of Scientific American, its editor contradicts, or at least qualifies, your assertions about Neptune's discovery. It was informed by astronomy and math, yes, but its eventual discovery was through simple trial and error and observation by a number of lesser- or un-known astronomers. Per the editor: "Leverrier's planet, in the end, matched neither the orbit, size, location or any other significant characteristic of the planet Neptune, but he still garners most of the credit for discovering it."

Dr. Phil might be a seasoned astronomer, but he is totally unprepared to refute astrology. I think you should bring an astrologer. Astrologers do agree on an inmense amount of axioms. Finally there is empirical experience from each astrologer which has some value.

David should interview Rick Levine for the countering viewpoint.

The day christianity fell apart for me, all the other religious type systems if you will, fell apart too. Though I never bought into astrology itself, I supposed satan could inject some truth into it to an extent. But now it fell apart, other religions had no chance with me, ghosts and ouija boards, any possible way they might develope into my belief system now totally gone. One time something getting a hit means nothing, like to many others if it gets one hit, then it's now cemented as true. I now need way way more consistency. I guess the point is, once my brain flipped it flipped and almost no going back possible now. Even aliens visiting earth fell apart. Just so many things.

11:20 The bias of remembering only the hits is called the "Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy" not "Hits and Misses."

It's as valid as any religion...

Oh finally a video about something else other than trump going to jail. Astrology 😂

What got me out of astrology? Realizing that all the compatibility stuff didn’t work out as stated. What’s odd to me is that if I say that astrology doesn’t work in my life, people freak out. They either lecture me about how my entire chart matters even though most astrological stuff focuses only on sun sign. Or they lecture me about how I’m exactly emanating my sun sign. The people I know seem to have birthdays in clumps - a bunch of April people a bunch of August people and none of them are even remotely alike. Sigh. I’m so tired of this human existence.

It's like the "cow theory." In America, you will see a cow, a picture of a cow, or a cow-related product every single day. For example, a McDonald's ad on TV, a McDonald's billboard on the freeway, if you drink milk, an ice cream truck... all cows! Now that I've pointed this out, you will actively be on the lookout for cows and I am 100% right ;) That's astrology in a nutshell.

The funniest thing on this I've seen is a guy texting his mother one evening, "Mum, what time of day was I born?" And she replied, "Nope. Walk away. She's not for you."

It's so vauge to mean anything you want.

I've worked with people over the years who wanted to know my birthday. I figured they were going to do some astrology thing on me so I've always given them the wrong one. After a while I just refused, telling them that they had the opportunity to get to know me over time, as is normal for friends and workmates, but I would not let them prejudge me like they wanted to do. Funnily enough, one person used that statement to make her assessment and assign me a star sign (wrong one) without knowing my birthday.

David is the definition of an Aquarius. Communicator, logical, driven by his own path, an enigma.

I don't believe in astrology as a spiritual system or forecaster of events, moods etc. But what if being born in the spring & being exposed to sunlight, warm/hot temperatures, more outdoor activities during first 6 months of life(opposite for winter) might have some impact on child development or temperament? Just a thought. SADD is a real thing after all. If we know that seasons can impact mental processes, then it's not ridiculous to think there are other ramifications.

Jupiter has an effect on me. When I find out it's going to make an appearance, I go outside at the "appointed" time and stare at it for long moments. Then, I write a poem about it.

What's really odd to me, as someone who is very science-based, with a Ph.D. that gave me training in the scientific process, so of COURSE I have to say this is all completely ridiculous. That being said, I am VERY MUCH aligned with all the traits not only of Cancers, but the 11 that I am in Numerology (which is even more ridiculous). The general traits describe me enough--or would fit with how my friends and family describe my behaviors and mannerisms as, for instance, my Myers-Briggs status of INFJ and my Enneagram nature of a 4 wing 5. (Plus also my Gryffindor tendencies with a smidge of Huffenpuff, lol!) So have I just developed aspects of Cancers and 11s because I learned them when I was a teenager? I mean, that IS when I used a mood ring to help me get lots of kisses from cute girls I was crushing on!

I remember one astrologer made a prediction concerning the W. Bush administration slightly before W. Bush's inauguration ( this was on a television talk show). The prediction was that some sort of catastrophic event would hit the USA, but W. would figure out how to use it to his advantage. On another talk show they had astrologer Suzanne White and just gave her birth times, dates and locations on various people. She had no idea ( supposedly) that all the information she was given was for serial killers and murderers. She was correct in identifying them as evil people. She even thought that Dahmer ( although she did not know it was Dahmer) would be a murder victim himself. This was before Dahmer was murdered. She also described Mark David Chapman as the most evil of the whole lot. I thought that was strange, since Chapman was not a serial killer, as far as I know, he only murdered John Lennon. Then I thought about it for a bit, Chapman did murder a beloved public figure, so he could be the most hated public figure. My conclusion on that is that either the astrologer, Suzanne White, had help from the television show producers and made a lucky guess, or that there is something to astrology. It piqued my interest enough to kind of follow it a little bit. Astrologer Andre Kahr interprets April 2024 as being very bad for Trump. Things get really bad for Trump in the 3rd week of April. On April 22 he probably will have a catastrophic health event, maybe even die. It would have been more interesting if he had an astrologer, too.

David, Sir! I can't believe you did not ask Dr. Plait about the Eagle 1 model from Space 1999 on the desk in the background. Classic sci fi. 😂

I thought this interview would be fun. It is, but it is also far more interesting and insightful that I imagined it would be. Great job, David and Dr. Plait!

Damn, what's his sign?

Whenever I come across someone who insists that astrology and horoscopes are real and then I just simply point out the fine print found at the bottom of every single astrology section or horoscope section where it provides a disclaimer: “This is for entertainment purposes only.” I get such an incredible hoot from watching them go into an irrational tizzy.

0:55: 🌟 Dr. Phil Plait discusses astrology and its roots in ancient times. 3:45: 🌌 The video discusses the lack of scientific evidence behind astrology and questions why the alignment of celestial bodies would have any effect on a person's life. 13:51: 🔍 The speaker cannot say if those who believe in astrology are likely to believe in other conspiracy theories or hold certain beliefs. 7:12: 🌟 Astrologers believe in an unknown force that holds astrology together, but they admit they don't understand it. 10:27: 🔮 Astrologers tend to make vague predictions that can easily apply to anyone's life. Recap by Tammy AI

I don’t believe in astrology, that’s typical for Sagittarians

Well the moon affects tides, right? And the human body is mostly water, so surely there's some effect

Haven't seen Dr Plait since Sci channel showed actual science. Nice to see him here.

Without doubt, the horoscope in the Toronto Sun, is the most accurate information that they publish.

Is it pronounced Uranus or Ur Anus?

Of course Phil would bash astrology - he's a typical Scorpio!

Thank you David for this.

The experts on astrology are not astronomers but psychologists.

I have major doubts that practitioners of astrology are " believers ". They just believe that the person paying them for a reading believes. And that person believes that the one giving the reading believes. It's a mess

I appreciate this David, thanks!

Astrology to me is a funny phenomenon, an age old curiosity. First of all, the light we see at night when peering at the trillions of stars is light that's been traveling for many hundreds of thousands of years and sometimes hundreds of millions of years. The stars themselves that gave off their light are nowhere near the positions they seem to be according to their light. The star charts, therefore, make no sense.

Sure, my first thought "crazy"? Yeah, there are crazies.

It's a sign of the times that David has to discuss this rubbish. It's rubbish, I thought everyone knew that, clearly not.

Where's the link to Phil Plait's video series?

"Bad Astronomy" by Dr. Phil Plait is a really good book.

The first question on any date should be, are you into astrology?

One observation I've made over the years has simply been sets of twins that I've known. Many of them have completely different personalities than their counterparts. They share the same birthday and by extension, zodiac sign, yet in some cases don't have the same political or religious views, don't like the same music, etc. One twin I know is gay but his brother is straight and so on. Penn Jillette (Penn and Teller) described astrology as a "cousin of racism". We have enough differences to make judgment calls on someone without knowing them, you're really going to pre-judge me based on my birthday and make broad assumptions about me based on it? I'm supposedly a Pisces, which explains why I like seafood, but I can't swim.

Wrong from the beginning. Astrology is NOT about how stars, planets etc affect you. Similar to science it is a measurement system. Astrology is way more complex than the scientist describes. An individual horoscope displays a pattern that does repeat for 437,000 years. Very typical response from scientists. They really don't understand what astrology is or does. Before you criticize something, you have to understand what it is. Astrology is not about forces. The tangent he goes on means he criticizes something that doesn't work they way it does. Bif fail.

I agree with pretty much everything he says. I don't know if there's a word for that (Materialist? Naturalist? Just grasping at straws here...) but everything supernatural, for the time being, IMO, belongs to the realm of fiction. However, I have to recognize that nobody has time or resources to verify all of their beliefs before acting on them. I think the problem I have with believers in the supernatural is how fervently attached they are attached to these largely unsubstantiated claims; like their beliefs "need" to be accepted as "truth" by everyone for them to keep their composure, leaving little to no room for agnosticism.

I mean obviously it's not real, but it is a little fun to think about. Like ghost stories or any other kind of fiction.

I first became interested in astronomy in 1967. Since then, I've been an opponent of astrology. It's just an excuse to avoid taking responsibility for making decisions. It also doesn't help that the signs are now one off. Those birthdays now are under Virgo, but the sun is in Leo!

Jesus, i didnt expect so many lunatics in the comments defending Astrology... i guess im still very naïve..

When did medicine split off from pointing a bone at the patient?

I always love the classic James Randi experiment. Where he had people say how much their horoscopes matched (very high percentages). And then had them switch papers and they all had the same lol.

Ancient people strongly believed in astrology because it appears there was some truth to it. It can predict seasons, day length, full moons, and many important info humans need. However, humans always believed the universe was created for us, so it was not crazy for them to believe that the stars and planets can predict human affairs too, not just natural phenomena.

Due to precession of the Earth's axis, the true position of the Sun is about 6 weeks out-of-sync with where astrologers believe it is, and all of their charts are therefore wrong ... even by their own 'standards'. Also, tidal effects of the planets are not that difficult to understand: they depend upon the variation (with distance) of the gravitational attraction rather than upon its strength. That is why the Moon has a greater effect upon the tides than does the Sun, even though the attraction of the Sun is much greater.

I'm a believer in astrology. Im not a fanatic but I do believe there are things (energy) in the universe that is what we're made of and that drive us. Astrology aligns with my spiritual beliefs that centers around the belief in energy. I was raised Christian (Episcopal) but dont take the bible literally. I see it as parables and fables meant to guide our values and behavior. I have a real problem with the immaculate conception so even though I love Christmas I have a hard time with its supposed meaning. I believe organized religion is a human construct meant to control the masses. I do believe in God but have my own idea of what god is which is more the energy of the universe. I am also a big believer in and follower of science. All that being said I'll continue to believe in my beliefs that we're all just made of energy swirling around and that the planets do have influence over our personalities. And when we die our energy is absorbed back into the cosmos and recycled for use in other things. Astrology might seem silly but it's fun and for me it does hold true in most cases. Chinese astrology as well. Noone can just say they're not real. There are plenty of things we believe in but can't see, that are intangible. Most of us have to believe in something.

No just because physical planets are out of alignment doesn't mean anything to Astrology. It doesn't take a break just because physical matter lost it's alignment. The universal and astrological calendar keeps moving forward even if the planets fall away. Also read Saffri Crawfords book Birthdays, Stars, and Numbers. Check out each of your positives and negative actions due to your certain birthday.

Astrology has some pretty artwork (as do many other world religions!), but shouldnt be taken for any serious decision making or analysis. Just like religion in general, really.

My first touch with astrology was the personality types of the different signs. There were some real good hits about people and family members. However the most plausible explanation is that such kinds of traits might be result of the weather (cold/warm/hot) and (as result) the variety of food available during the pregnancy. This however means that "astrological" signs are strictly limited to certain geographic regions, where the initial observations have been done. It also mean that with modernization these traits would be less prominent, as heating is not an issue and all food is available all year round.

Yep to many God is not real your allowed to be wrong

Dr Phil Plait is awesome! A great communicator, super knowledgeable.

I have a few friends on social media who post astrology meme's about how they are a scorpio to explain who they are and why they do things. I noticed believers use their sign as a sort of badge, like a club, and unfortunately most of the content i see is the "you're not to blame for your actions because you're a scorpio/whatever" and it's sad.

Oh hell yes, Phil Plait! He’s just the best!

If I give you Someone’s Name, Day they were born and time they were born, we can deduce certain dominant characteristics in individuals. The reason it works is the same way the double slit experiment works, we’re in a simulation

Prediction astrology is B.S. of course. But the fact that he doesn't mention archetypes means he doesn't know where it comes from and how/why it's used.

I like that mention of the Forer effect, making general and flattering “predictions” that are not easily falsifiable. Astrologers can claim that astrology works because of some unknown physical effect, but their predictions can be tested empirically, by doing experiments and observations. I recall seeing somewhere that astrological predictions consistently fail. Astrologers like to say that the stars incline but do not compel, but that is what statistics is for: testing for things that incline without compelling.

radion belts that would've destroyed their suites

A very little-known fact: Aleister Crowley thought astrology was complete bullshit and even said so in the introduction to the encyclopedia-sized volume by the title, Astrology, which he wrote. I forget why he said he wrote the 5-pound lump of paper. It's not worth anyone's time, unless you're good at writing horoscopes people like to read. In that case, hey, $20 is $20, right?

Debunking something insignificant and harmless. Not interested.

Just a historical example: Tycho Brahe, the employer of Johann Kepler was both a very accurate astronomer and the astrologer of the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II.

The fact that some people think there could be a scientific basis behind astrology is utterly ridiculous

Tell me you don’t know anything about astrology while telling me you know everything about astrology😂😂😂 y’all are hilarious

I have never considered astrology to be any more than hocus-pocus. However, I think there could be legitimate argument to be made for seasonal impacts on personality. Meaning, if a child experiences, its first three months during winter versus summer, they might experience a very different life through a very different formative period of their development. Additionally, if a child experiences the phase of learning how to walk during spring and summer, rather than during the winter, they too, might get on their feet sooner than the child who doesn’t go outside much because it’s just cold. There could be seasonal impacts on development, and where those faces line up and how they could impact a child’s trajectory and even personality.

Love your show, but you guys are starting with an incorrect premise. The idea that the heavenly bodies have influence over events on earth would be absurd, but that's not what astrology is. It's rooted in an older, more connected world view that sees everything as part of a single whole. A slice of it can convey information about the whole.

You always have freedom of choice. To say there's no influence at all from other planet's, the sun, moon, is quite foolish considering these conditions affect our oceans, our planet. People are always looking for the tangible, or effect. It's only reflective, intangible, energy. Doesn't mean you will be incapable of continuing on your path as you are, but it may effect the way you communicate and reflect your views. Chances are, you will not even notice. Some people do notice. They misread none the less. Personally, you should just move aa you feel and continue to weigh out your options and pro's and con's. It's a wise man who rules the stars, it's a fool who's ruled by them.

Presenting Astrology as determinism is the biggest limitation of its deniers. I think I'll save the rest of my time and not watch till the end.

Golly dang. So my being a Cappy with Taury rising doesn't explain my personality? Guess I'll turn back to the old man in the sky to understand life

"This can't be true because people don't agree on it" is a logical fallacy.

Whatever miniscule effect the "stars" might have on your personality is certrainly trumped by your genes, your nutrition, your hormones, the climate, the weather, the behavior of your parents, pollutants, infections, and even the kind of music you listened to in the womb.

That force is God.

If a girl asks my sign, it’s already to late.

20 year old women on Tiktok will not be happy about this interview.

because of chaos the tuning has to be like extreme, crazy, infinitely precise, and for no other reason than to make newpapers correlate with general events in peoples lives, and i might add ofc this correlation would have to be signifigant and higher than the correlation to the rest of the population ofc, i think as you do that what astrology does is no mystery, but if what they think they are doing was real, then we would be in serious trouble.

Talk about casting pearls...people with an atheist agenda trying to debunk spirituality. They never will understand. Nothing has such power to broaden the mind as the ability to investigate systematically and truly all that comes under thy observation in life. ~Marcus Aurelius

Meh, astrologer Andre Kahr ( he has a yt channel ) interprets Trump has a major health crisis 3rd week of April 2024. Sounds nice.

I'm an Aries. The characteristics describe me. I don't fo!low a horoscope but I can't deny that my personality aligns with the Aries sign. How do you explain that?

Everyone knows astrology isn't real except for the few people that will never be convinced otherwise. Just like arguing over all the other religions it eventually becomes sad always wanting to pop some intellectually compromised person's bubble