Bad Astronomy: Misconceptions and Misuses Revealed, from ...

MARS IS IN THE SEVENTH HOUSE 217
Mind you, the shapes of these constellations are arbitrary as
well. Libra looks like a diamond only because of where we are relative
to those four stars. Those stars are at all different distances,
and only appear to be a diamond. If we had a three-dimensional
view, they wouldn’t look to be in that shape at all.
And it gets worse. Some stars in the zodiacal signs are supergiants
and will someday explode. Antares, the red heart of Scorpius,
is one of these supergiants. Someday it will become a supernova,
and Scorpius will be left with a hole in its chest. How do we
interpret the constellation then?
PPP
Apologists for astrology, like many who defend a pseudoscience,
try to distract critics rather than actually argue relevant points.
Many astrologers point out that astronomy and astrology used to
be the same thing, as if once having been part of a physical science
legitimizes astrology. That’s silly. That hamburger I ate the other
day was once part of a cow; that doesn’t make me a four-legged
ruminant, and it doesn’t make the cow any more human.
Another classic astrology defense argues that many famous
astronomers were practicing astrologers: Kepler, Brahe, Copernicus.
Notice that the list features astronomers from a few hundred
years ago. In the end, this argument is just as fallacious as the previous
one. Astronomers from centuries past didn’t have the scientific
basis for astronomy as a physical science that we now have,
and, indeed, Kepler was the key person in making that happen.
They were still steeped in tradition. Also, it’s not clear if Kepler
believed in astrology; he was being paid by a king who did, and
he was certainly smart enough to understand who buttered his
bread.
Astrologers go on to talk about the large number of people
who believe in and practice it. Is the majority always right? Fact is
fact, unswayed by how many people believe in a falsehood or how
fervently they defend it.
Yet astrology is still popular, despite all these devastating claims
against it. Why? What weapon do astrologers wield that wipes out
all rational and critical claims against them? It turns out their best
weapon is us.