i roll my eyes at astrology but generally don’t mind a little “folk wisdom” if it helps people deal with the world, though of course it often doesn’t actually really help and just obscures the real reasons behind things.
kinda similar to how i think a sincere belief in religion might actually help someone in many cases, but can also veil the world and make it less accessible.
in the same vein is also folk or traditional medicine. i bet there are good insights in there, but also just a lot of bs. difficult to sift for gold.
then it’s harmful and should probably be stopped. ideally you’d have empirically verified folk wisdom, but then it isn’t folk wisdom anymore, just science.
I don’t know if the website has been updated recently, but http://www.whatstheharm.net/astrology.html has a pretty good record of the harm various pseudosciences have caused.
One could build a similar site about all the harm medicine has caused also, (and I’m sure there is one out there). That doesn’t stop anyone from seeing a doctor when they are sick.
Anything can be used in a harmful way to cause ill to others. All it takes is the want to and a bit of creativity and a slick story.
I don’t think astrology begets antivax beliefs, though they do both fall under the woo-woo alternative health/spirituality umbrella. I know people who are into one or the other but not necessarily both.
but woo-woo beliefs are infiltrating every aspect of life, including places where they do not belong, like public health and the justice system. and that’s problematic for everyone.
i roll my eyes at astrology but generally don’t mind a little “folk wisdom” if it helps people deal with the world, though of course it often doesn’t actually really help and just obscures the real reasons behind things.
kinda similar to how i think a sincere belief in religion might actually help someone in many cases, but can also veil the world and make it less accessible.
in the same vein is also folk or traditional medicine. i bet there are good insights in there, but also just a lot of bs. difficult to sift for gold.
how do you feel when it actively makes the world a worse place?
because a lot of these folks believe in anti-vaccination and other crazy stuff that is actively harming other people and themselves.
then it’s harmful and should probably be stopped. ideally you’d have empirically verified folk wisdom, but then it isn’t folk wisdom anymore, just science.
I don’t know if the website has been updated recently, but http://www.whatstheharm.net/astrology.html has a pretty good record of the harm various pseudosciences have caused.
One could build a similar site about all the harm medicine has caused also, (and I’m sure there is one out there). That doesn’t stop anyone from seeing a doctor when they are sick.
Anything can be used in a harmful way to cause ill to others. All it takes is the want to and a bit of creativity and a slick story.
I mean, every single of these entries isn’t caused by astrology but by other nonsense.
People fled because there was a warning of a cyclone, not because they believed in astrology.
Numerology is not astrology. People believing in witches is not astrology. Scammers will use anything including astrology.
And if those are the only examples, it really is less harmful then people make out.
This site needs a page on the harm caused by not using HTTPS
the problem is people are willing to commit violence for beliefs.
not so much empirically verified science.
Yeah man, I hear about those roving gangs of astrology girlies murdering people like all the time
I don’t think astrology begets antivax beliefs, though they do both fall under the woo-woo alternative health/spirituality umbrella. I know people who are into one or the other but not necessarily both.
It shows a lack of understanding which correlates nicely with other wrong beliefs, some of which are very harmful.
it doesn’t.
but woo-woo beliefs are infiltrating every aspect of life, including places where they do not belong, like public health and the justice system. and that’s problematic for everyone.