Expert: Ed - 12/13/2004

Question
Hi Ed,
 I have been confused for quite a while about the astrology sections in magazines and newspapers. they say that you can determine a persons future and how they act by there horoscope sign. Is it true or is it false? I personally believe in it. But I want to test it for my science project and want some kind of answer from a expert like your self. Can you help me?

               -Drew

Answer
Drew,

This is an interesting question.  Before I forget, I would like to STRONGLY recommend that you find a copy of "Travels," by Michael Crichton (the same Michael Crichton who is responsible for "Jurassic Park," "ER," etc.).  He is a Harvard MD, and he has explored lots of subjects like clairvoyance, etc., which are similar to your topic.  He is very open-minded.  He actually does believe in certain psychic phenomena, although he doesn't believe in astrology.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0060509058/qid=1103123287/sr=2-1/ref=pd_k...

Anyway...  I don't believe in astrology.  There are many influences that shape our destinies and our personalities, but the planets are simply so incredibly far away that their gravitational impact upon our physical composition/chemistry/etc at the time of our birth is negligible.  It makes much more sense to pay attention to influences such as our parents, economic circumstances, who our friends are, etc.   There are many, many, many forces impacting us constantly which are sooooooo much stronger than the influence of the planets.

You might also want to look at this terrific articles:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/08/17/nstars17.xml

http://www.skepticfiles.org/mys1/astr0311.htm

I hope this is useful to you for your research.

Keep Looking Up!
--Ed