What is your Zodiac [astrology]?

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I never set out to prove astrology. I set out to prove that the "no evidence" argument is nonsensical and used by people who are biased (why you don't get this when I quite clearly said this is beyond me).

Which is why you should explain the Mars Effect. If you were unbiased, you could explain it logically. Those biased towards disbelief say it is random (or that it's made up, for those that aren't good at analyzing evidence at all). Those biased towards belief say it's proof. There is a third option that both are missing, and is only available to those that are not biased. My evidence is that you cannot explain it, except by saying that it's random.

But you're not a skeptic, you're a dismisser. You say that, because no evidence exists currently, it must not be true. I've already pointed out the problem with this, but I'll address it again:

1. Astrology is dismissed out of hand. For the record, this was also true with tea for a very long time (one of my examples). Doctors dismissed that it could have the health benefits associated with it. It's only recently that they've begun to accept the fact that it has a LOT of health benefits. There aren't any studies done that take a serious look at a correlation between particular factors of heavenly bodies and personality. Most of the studies done focus on whether or not predictions are accurate, if people can be fooled into thinking that an inaccurate reading is accurate, etc. Basically, they call astrologers into question, not astrology. There haven't been studies done on whether there's a statistically significant correlation between personality and the position of heavenly bodies (except for the Mars Effect, which is what makes it significant).

2. This assumes that you know all studies done, ever. You can't say this, for obvious reasons.

The problem with selection bias is that that it basically says that the Mars Effect is made up. There is another way of explaining it, though. If you'd like to hear my explanation (that both assumes that it doesn't prove astrology and that the Mars Effect actually exists), I will tell you.

Edit: PM'd you about off-topic stuff

When there is no good research being done, a skeptic says that neither way is certain. That's not what you said. A true skeptic is a person who questions BOTH sides.

My point with tea is that people do the same with with astrology as they used to do with tea: Dismiss the idea as absurd without actually examining it. It took a long time for doctors to start studying it, and they're only really beginning to look at these health benefits.

If I said that I'm a doctor, and you should drink mercury, would that disprove medicine? No. It only proves that I'm not qualified to speak as a doctor. Similarly, studying whether predictions made are accurate calls the astrologer into question, not astrology.

For the record, I am taking my having to explain this as proof of your bias:

Before I begin, I would like to point out that I am not a master of astrological terminology, so forgive me if a different word would be better suited to these explanations. (Edit: Also, please forgive me if the explanation is vague or incomplete. It's 2:45 AM here and I am quite tired)

First of all, in addition to a correlation found between championship-level athletes and Mars, there was a correlation found between prominent scientists and Saturn, as well as actors and Jupiter. There was one more correlation found, however, and that was between parent and child. Children that were born naturally (not induced) were found to be born around the same time as their parents, on average. This actually makes sense from a biological point of view. Our bodies are in tune with things we can't consciously process. Since the parent was born during a particular phase of Mars and survived to breed, the body knows that that is more likely to be a "safe" time to give birth. It's fairly well known that children are more likely to be like their parents than others (for example, bullies often come from the households of aggressive and intolerant parents) and that we tend to attract people much like ourselves (though if we can't find one, often we settle for someone else). From this, we can see that a statistical insignificant difference in personality can lead to a statistically significant difference (using this, I would say that if people born under a particular phase of Mars where it's slightly more common to find athletes would be more likely to have athletic children than those born under a phase where it's slightly less common, simply because of the fact that, in the first case, the parent is more likely to find an athletic person born in the same phase [Remember: Potentially biologically significant] than in the second, where the parent would have to find an unathletic mate and thus the child might develop to be like their unathletic parent). Remember that this would have a very small effect for each generation, but would add up over time. This can also explain how astrology came about without taking the assumption that it was just people making stuff up. It could very well be that they studied what people born during certain phase were like and came up with the beginnings of astrology.

Now, there's more to it than just that. (Before you read this explanation, know that I don't know how astrology worked for people born in a particular sign of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This explanation only works if the Mars Effect confirmed that people born under a particular part of Mars were more likely to be better athletes, etc) There's also the issue of self-fulfilling prophecy. 40 years (or so) ago, the 4 minute mile was thought impossible. Then someone actually ran it. Suddenly, in the years following, several more people began to get times under 4 minutes (it's a shame that Doyle Brunson couldn't continue his running career. I am sure he would've achieved the 4 minute mile first). It's well documented that people that believe they are more likely to succeed do, and those with an expectation of failure fail. So an athlete goes to an astrologer. The astrologer tells him that he was born during a time that is beneficial to athletic career and that he will find much success. Another athlete goes to the same astrologer. That astrologer tells him that he was born during a time that is very detrimental to athletes, and it may be best to seek out another career. The result? The first athlete is more likely to succeed, while the second is more likely to fail. This also works with parents raising their children based on astrological predictions. The parents treat the child as if they will become a prominent scientist, and so the child becomes more likely to become a prominent scientist. The same works for personality traits. The parents treat the child as if they should be an extrovert, and the child becomes an extrovert.

Both of these allow for a correlation to exist, but also for astrology to not be significant (in the first case, you're better off studying the personality traits of the parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents, and in the second, the correlation only exists as a result of the existence of astrology in the first place). If we assume that the Mars Effect does exist, then I think a combination of these is more likely than either one individually.

As I said, these explanations took me roughly 10 minutes to come up with after hearing about the Mars Effect. These are not difficult explanations to come up with (though they require accepting that something could be true even if there is no proof, such as the body being in tune to the phases of Mars).

I'm new to astrology so I'm not going to waste my time debating with people who think it's crap. I felt the same way, but I never actually took the opportunity to thoroughly research it. If you want an accurate reading you should also use your time of birth, and check a birth chart.

[White Magnetic World-Bridger]

In my case of aspergers, the diagnoses stems from the fact my body holds onto mercury and other metals. This is why I don't excrete the mercury out of my hair like most people do, it comes outta my piss instead. As a child I had metal teeth caps, which contained mercury and other metals. I also had vaccines which had mercury as a preservative. Mercury is also found in products that contain high-fructose corn syrup, such as coca cola. I'm now on a diet and I avoid mercury at all costs.

So I'm not saying that every case is the same, there could be other reasons people have the symptoms leading to the diagnoses... but I believe in most cases it's probably do to mercury.

I highly suggest anyone google their zodiac along with "mercury". You might find some very useful information like I did.

Even if 10,000 people responded, this poll would still be unscientific. It is not a random sampling of a population.

bump.

Not many Scorpios out there I guess.

Actually they changed the dates of birth corresponding with the different astrological signs. I am not sagitarius anymore.

I am talking about the zodiac sign and they have changed the birth date so your corresponding sign may be different.