Is there a correlation between birth month and disease risk?

[Saint]

The MSN horoscope states the dates of Pisces and Aries as:
Aries
March 20 - April 18
A number of different and unexpected possibilities might have you a bit confused about which way you want to go regarding both your professional and personal goals, dear Aries. At some point you may face a choice of some kind, but right now you aren't really all that sure about the direction you want to take. Don't rush it. It isn't necessary to do it all today. Wait a few days, consider your options, and then make your decision.

Pisces
February 18 - March 19
The attitudes of others towards you, particularly close friends, may seem to be changing, and you aren't likely to be sure about what this means. The fact is, dear Pisces, you are changing, and some of your friends may like what you're becoming, and others might feel less comfortable. You can't stop what's happening - and in the long run it's going to be a very positive process. It just may be difficult now. Bear with both your friends and yourself.


So far as I know, my birthday 20thMarch belongs to pisces, how come it is Aries this year ? Is it due to leap year ?

 

[tribdog]

Wow, that is weird. Sounds fishy to me. lol get it? fishy? pisces? sigh nevermind
Speaking of leap year my grandpa was born Feb 29, 1896. There was no leap year in the year 1900 so he was 8 on his first birthday. If he wouldn't have died we would have both had our 23rd birthday in the same month. Makes me wish I hadn't killed him.

 

[jimmy p]

ahh tribdog, you'll be the death of me...you are joking, right?

 

[ray b]

leap year yes but it allso depends on what time of day and time zone you were born in
and the year you were born in too

 

[tribdog]

of course I'm joking. I'm glad I killed him.
whoops there I go again. okay I didn't kill my grandpa. the leap year stuff is true though.

 

[Saint]

All the time I'm Pisces.
I like the two fish.

 

[jimmy p]

I am a pisces also!

 

[tribdog]

Wow, what a coincidence. Not only are both of pisces, guess what? I'm aquarius. Small world huh?

 

[Les Sleeth]

Still causing trouble I see. As a Pisces without cusp bipolar tendencies, I can say with complete confidence you are experiencing astrological bifarcations.

 

[Kerrie]

saint, i love questions such as these! astrology is an avid hobby of mine...the "sun" enters each sun sign differently each year, so your sign truly depends on the year you were born...

i suggest you try astro.com and that will tell you exactly your sign for free...

 

[Monique]

I still find it strange that a science minded person would believe this stuff.. you really believe it?

 

[jimmy p]

Monique is no fun ;)

 

[skywise]

It's an avid hobby of mine as well..
It's not really about believing it or not. I've applied to my life and compared it to what I know of friends and family and it just works. I don't know how or why exactly but it's a very useful tool for understanding myself and others.

The trick is looking at the full picture (the whole natal chart) as opposed to just Sun sign astrology.

 

[Kerrie]

I still find it strange that a science minded person would believe this stuff.. you really believe it?

monique, astrology is not the horoscope you read in the paper, or the 900 numbers you call...astrology actually uses a lot of geometry, astronomy, human psychology, and time to learn how it all ties together...the true art of astrology has the theory that the universe and all of life are in sync, and the aspects of the planets tend to reflect what is going on with humanity in general...sort of like how the moon affects the tides

i have studied for 13 years now using a person's natal chart-basically the blueprint of where the aspects were the moment a person is able to breathe on his or her own and is no longer dependent on their mother...it takes years to understand and learn, and many do not have this patience, and along with the huge amount of frauds, it has given astrology a bad name...

here's a little experiment for those of you unfamiliar with astrology...beginning april 6th, mercury goes into retrograde - a regular event that happens around 3 times a year...this is a true fact that when you track mercury for the following 3 weeks approx, it will look like it is going backwards, but it is just an optical illusion...now, during this time up until april 30, take note of how many fouled up things happen, such as networks being down, mail arriving late, your internet not functioning (as examples)...mercury in retrograde tends to reflect (NOT PREDICT) small events that have to do with communication, foul ups essentially...traditionally, this time is not good for weddings, signing contracts or making large purchases as they will become "undone" so to speak...

i think astrology should be studied more by science, but i don't believe it has been given the chance it should...i would not have wasted 13 years of my time on the subject if i didn't feel there was some kind of truth to it

 

[tribdog]

I'm reminded of the college professor, I don't have the details so don't ask, who passed out hororscopes to his class. After they had a chance to review their horoscopes the professor asked them if they felt they were accurate and something like 90 or 95% agreed they were accurate. The professor then told them to pass the horoscope to the person behind them, because that's who's horoscope they had actually been viewing.

 

[skywise]

That's a perfect example of a narrow segment-'sun sign' astrology- being used to discredit through extreme over-simplication a very broad and intensively detailed topic.

 

[Kerrie]

I'm reminded of the college professor, I don't have the details so don't ask, who passed out hororscopes to his class. After they had a chance to review their horoscopes the professor asked them if they felt they were accurate and something like 90 or 95% agreed they were accurate. The professor then told them to pass the horoscope to the person behind them, because that's who's horoscope they had actually been viewing.

the college professor proved that typical horoscopes for only 12 personality types was incorrect...natal astrology takes in the signs for all of the planets, the moon, and the infinite aspects formed between all of them to the earth...again, another example of what the masses thinks astrology is, but is unaware of how it truly works.

 

[cookiemonster]

Could we get a little crash course in how it works?

I've never put much faith in it because I've never seen a mechanism to actually describe how it works.

cookiemonster

 

[Monique]

The existence, and difference of personality, of (identical) twins disproves the principle to me.

 

[Kerrie]

The existence, and difference of personality, of (identical) twins disproves the principle to me.

yes, but their personalities are quite similar comparatively speaking...their experiences are what helps form their differences...everyone has a choice in who they are and what they become, astrology does not claim that someone will be certain ways, but it does point to common tendencies in individuals with certain strong aspects...

the best form of proof is to have your chart professionally done instead of reading about it...having your chart done is first hand experience with astrology instead of about it...but because there is usually a fee involved, most will snub this and continue to believe what they choose...

there used to be a thread of astrology in the skeptic/debunk forum about a year ago...i got into it with chroot :) i am unable to find it, as it seems that the older threads have been deleted as far as a crash course goes...feel free to ask me questions, i am sure i can answer them or find an answer...(sorry, i have gone over this topic so many times here, that i get exhausted repeating myself )

 

[Math Is Hard]

Zooby and I are birthday twins and we're like peas in a pod, huh Zoob?

I am dissapointed that you astrology buffs never answered my question about what the zodiac sign of a baby born on Mars would be. Seriously, would we have to overhaul the old geo-centric system?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

there used to be a thread of astrology in the skeptic/debunk forum about a year ago...i got into it with chroot :) i am unable to find it, as it seems that the older threads have been deleted as far as a crash course goes...

Kerrie, I thought this is the one that you meant but I didn't see chroot...

https://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=2294&page=1&pp=15

I had to look manually...the search didn't find this for some reason.

 

[cookiemonster]

The search feature has been pretty disappointing lately. I was reading a thread about a boat and when I did a search for boat, nothing came up.

Maybe I should complain in the other forum...

cookiemonster

 

[Tsu]

The search feature has been pretty disappointing lately. I was reading a thread about a boat and when I did a search for boat, nothing came up.

Maybe I should complain in the other forum...

cookiemonster

I've had very similar experiences using the search function in the old forum format. I was hoping it would be better in this new one. Bummer.

 

[Monique]

mercury goes into retrograde [..] now, during this time up until april 30, take note of how many fouled up things happen, such as networks being down, mail arriving late, your internet not functioning (as examples)...mercury in retrograde tends to reflect (NOT PREDICT) small events that have to do with communication, foul ups essentially...traditionally, this time is not good for weddings, signing contracts or making large purchases as they will become "undone" so to speak...

Tends to reflect but nót predict.. so if something happens you can attribute it to mercury, if nothing happens then that is fine too.. sounds not right to me. Also how would you hypothesize that mercury could have such an effect besides the psychological confirmation? Things you note tend to stick more in your head and stand out, also people start living according to their prediction.

For instance: ask people if many fooled up things happened the past month. Now tell them that many fooled up things are going to happen the coming month and at the end of that month ask the same question. The outcoming is going to be different, no matter whether there were more events or not.

i think astrology should be studied more by science, but i don't believe it has been given the chance it should...i would not have wasted 13 years of my time on the subject if i didn't feel there was some kind of truth to it

Brian Greene spent 17 years of his life studying string theory so I think you are not alone in that respect

 

[Kerrie]

monique, astrology does not claim to be scientific, as it is not, and the reaseon it can never be scientific is because of human free will...have we been able to understand human free will scientifically? astrology as i said before does not claim to predict a person's set personality, but can point out to strong tendencies...once the scientific community stops trying to make it science and realize it's more of an art and a language, then it may get the chance it deserves...

thanks ivan for digging up that old thread...to be honest, i would rather suggest reading that thread as it is 4 pages long with the same info i would provide in this thread...

i will say that most people still truly misunderstand what astrology is meant to be...to be completely objective about astrology, i suggest stop reading your horoscope in the newspaper/web, stop believing what die hard scientists (uneducated about what astrology is meant) to say about the topic, and really read what the reputable astrologers have to say about what it...

here is a quote of mine from that other thread:

"so, as long as there are people trying to prove it as a science, it will continue to have the reputation it has...for those who understand it's language will find the ability to understand people and their motives much better..."

 

[skywise]

well said, Kerrie

 

[Monique]

Astrology is not a science, cannot be proven, shouldn't hold scientific standards for it.. so what is the point, really?

I mean, it is impressive that you can know so much about the movement of celestial bodies, maybe it had an effect on people who were living in caves (where a full moon would predict a good hunt), but for the rest I think it is better to predict someone's future on the basis of the television programs they're watching..

And oh, I read your replies in the 8 paged thread that Ivan supplied.

 

[Monique]

OK: perfect analogy: the weather. Weather can be scientifically proven with certain probabilities. The exact same should be possible with astrology, also making it scientific and thus acceptable.

Now, how many people have actually tested astrology scientifically and what came out? If you are saying there is an effect it MUST be measurable, otherwise there is no effect per definition. Thus it SHOULD stand up against scientific tests.

 

[skywise]

How well does the field of psychology hold up to scientific inquiry?

Irregardless, it is a field that has undoubtedly helped a great many people understand themselves better. Astrology is simply a more ancient (yet continually evolving) form of psychology.

I read that entire 8 page too and found the intolerance, condescension and absolutism disturbing. It makes me wary of putting myself out there if it only means I will garner responses like some of those. (Not that I'm getting that feeling from you Monique.. :) )

 

[Monique]

Thanks skywise, I wouldn't wish to offend anyone, surely there is no difference between string theorists and astrologists, both believe in an unproven theory which is supposed to describe reality. The only difference is that string theory is supposed to match up to the world of experiment, at least it doesn't contradict it, and there is a real firm ground of how it is supposed to work. I don't see that with astrology, and the fact that it is claimed to be unscientific by the people who stúdy it, really discredits it to me.

The scientific method is that you make a hypothesis, you do a prediction, you go and test that prediction on a selected sample and compare that to a null value (from a random sample).

Sure there are going to be deviations due to personal experiences. But if astrology really as an effect on a person's life, you are going to find that back in your data!

For instance, you read the natal chart out for a really large group of people and at the same time they are asked to fill in a questionaire. Then you split the group in two: group A is the sample where the natal record is kept with the correct person, group B is the control where all natal records are mingled up and put back at a random person.

Now someone is going to go through the natal record and see how they match up with the questionaire. Based on that an measure is given as to how far they match up. THEN you go and divide that big pile of data into the two groups again (it is important to keep such studies blind).

It should be evident from the data that the prediction rate in group A exceeds that of the one in group B, IF astrology is a real thing.

 

[Evo]

I have several problems with astrology. First, the constellations are not in the same place they were when the first astrological charts were created, but no one has ever corrected them, they are currently irrelevant.

Second, the "constellations" are "fictitious", the relation of the stars to each other is imaginary and only appear in those formations as viewed from earth. From another point in space you would not see these "constellations". They are not a real "group" in space. How can someone place significance on something that is imaginary?

Third, how can a ball of rock or gas millions of miles away have more impact on a person's personality than a nearby boulder?

 

[Monique]

You could really mess with someone's mind by placing a large rock under their desk
*little sarcastic joke*

 

[Ivan Seeking]

OK: perfect analogy: the weather. Weather can be scientifically proven with certain probabilities. The exact same should be possible with astrology, also making it scientific and thus acceptable.

An interesting note here: Since we don't usually see last week's weather report we don't seem to remember that accuracy of weather reports. This winter I was working on two projects for the state. The equipment is located in remote locations and in addition to modem comms, I often had to go on site for various problems. For this reason I became very dependant on weather reports. Critical weather prediction in Oregon seems to be less accurate than random chance. It got to the point that I could almost count on just the opposite of that predicted. If they said that there would be snow on the passes, then plan to go because it will surely be rain or nothing at all. When they called for rain, it snowed. When they called for a sunny day, it rained. This went on all during the fall and winter. It was very frustrating and expensive.

According to Willard Scott, I think it was, modern long range forecasts are 55% accurate. The Farmer's Almanac is 45% accurate.

As for Astrology, what we are really talking about here are cycles. Could there be hidden cycles in our biology or in the planet itself that could affect the characteristics of our offspring? Could celestial objects simply act as approximate clocks by which to measure other natural cycles? I always hear the demand for a cause and effect relationship with the planets in order to justify astrology. It seems to me that there could be coincidental relationships given enough hidden biological, geological, meteorological...etc...clocks. At last count I heard that we are thought to have perhaps hundreds of biological clocks that influence aging. Couldn't there be other types of natural clocks as well that simply coincide with astronomical cycles just by chance? If there is anything to astrology I think that something along this line might explain the apparent relationship to the planets. Be it coincidental or not, the little bit of serious astrology that I have been exposed to had me pegged pretty well...and don't start on me about Randi's test. I have seen his demonstration for astrology. His basic point is valid, but he seems to think that given considered thought, I [and anyone who doesn't agree with him] can't tell the difference between distinctive traits and traits that apply to everyone.

Edit: Toned down a little - I have found Randi to be offensive at times.

 

[Njorl]

Wow, that is weird. Sounds fishy to me. lol get it? fishy? pisces? sigh nevermind
Speaking of leap year my grandpa was born Feb 29, 1896. There was no leap year in the year 1900 so he was 8 on his first birthday. If he wouldn't have died we would have both had our 23rd birthday in the same month. Makes me wish I hadn't killed him.

I don't know why, but that reminded me of the joke, "I want to die peacefully in my sleep, like my grandfather, not screaming in terror like his passengers."

I wish I remember who said that.

Njorl