1. Astrology Astrology is based on the claim that at the time of a person‘s birth, stars have an influence on personality. Historically, astrology was part of a religious system: Babylonian believed that gods exert influence on people through the stars. This claim has no scientific basis, and astrology, like graphology, does not have any predictive power (Carlson, 1985; for a summary: http://www.ntskeptics.org/factsheets/astrolog.htm). Contributor © POSbase 2005

2. Astrology • If there is no scientific basis for astrology: why do people believe in horoscopes? • Among the numerous reasons are: • Apparent validity of horoscopes (Forer, 1949); • Apparent specificity of horoscopes (Snyder, 1974); • Positive hypothesis testing: If I read in a horoscope that I have self-doubts, I look for information that confirms the statement, and not for information that would falsify it. © POSbase 2005