Horoscopes a self fulfilling prophecy?

Former Member

So are horoscopes a type of self fulfilling prophecy? I'm not talking about the inch high columns in news papers and on the web but the profiles of the sign's if you are a cancer does that mean you are born with cancerous tendancies or does reading of your personality traits mean you expand on certain parts while neglecting the others?

Former Member

The very best thing I can think of saying about horoscopes is that for many people is harmless fun (although their idea of fun seems rather bizarre to me).

It is extremely tragic that some people take them seriously and will even change holidays/plans and ditch their boyfriend/girlfriend according to their 'stars'.

With regard to the 'inherited' personality characteristics of each sign; one's personality is dictated by a number of factors, be parents, childhood, experiences, etc. Your personality is not dictated because on the day you were born Venus was passing through the arse of Virgo while Cancer was chopping off Taurus' balls as they crossed paths.

I have met several people who will ask a couple what their signs are, before saying to others "They won't last. Leos and Scorpions don't get on well." :rolleyes:

It's a load of bollocks.

Former Member

they are as aladdin says, a load of bollocks, sufficing only to make gullible people lead their lives in certain ways

Former Member

Horoscopes are worthless. They have consistently been shown to be invalid. The descriptions and statements are so vague that any number of conclusions can be drawn from them.
A number of studies have been carried out using two sets of horoscopes - one the polar opposite of the other. Tha vast majority of those tested saw a strong link between the two horoscopes and their own lives.

It just goes to show that most people are gullible and easily led.

Former Member

i read my horoscope the other day and it said: "you will have to rethink plans for further education or travel in the coming weeks"...seeing as my a level results were due in about 3 days (which would effect my plans for uni) after i read this i began to panic and got a really bad feeling about them...then to my surprise i got the results and got AAA!!!!!
sorry, not really sure if this is relevant!
...back to the subject...i guess horoscopes can act as a self fulfilling prophecy, particularly if they are read after the time for which they were written...we rationalise them post hoc and can twist them to fit our lives...similarly they can potentially cause us to alter our behaviour to fit their 'predictions/aparitions' (for want of a better word!!!), alhtough thinking about it im not sure what we gain from doing this...perhaps a sense of security - the notion of knowing what is going to happen reduces the un-predictability(is that even a word!!!) of life!
sorry im rambling

Former Member

I blame all my errors on the fact that I'm a pisces :yes:

Former Member

I beleive in them to a certain degree. Take me an Aquarian I am loyal and faithful, can be ratty, Take pride in things and I find lots of other aquarians are the same.
I dont know much about other signs apart from Geminis which are split personality, one minuite they can be nice and the next minuite they are having a go, so my sister is a true gemini, the description fits her perfectly.
I would not beleive everything im told, or make plans because someone has told me i must, if something happens it happens and if it doesent well there you go

Former Member

i like to read horoscopes and my perosnality traits. they're mostly true although i don't take it seriously because it does seem a bit illogical. i do sometimes blame me being impatient or fiery on the fact that im an aries.
i also like reading my horoscope in the paper, like on friday i was going on a date and my horoscope said'you must decide what you want, whether it's a bit of fun or something more serious' and i was like omg thats such a coincidence. but of course i dont really believe in it because like someone said earlier you can just twist it and make it fit your day.

i think i just find it interesting, similarily i like to know what peoples names mean. mine means 'christmas day'

Former Member

Of course theyre a self-fulfilling prophecy, but I dopnt think that that is necessarily a bad thing. Quite often people know that something in their life is wrong, but they need something to tell them what they already know, and a vague horoscopical sentence could do just the trick.

All horoscopes do is give people faith in their own judgement- people who believe in horoscopes will onyl read into a sentence what they want to read into it. And if something is wrong, thats the spin theyll put on it- if everything is wonderful, and nothing in life needs changing, then the sentence will eitehr be disregarded or interpreted differently. After all, horoscopes arent exactly concise and to the point, are they?

Whats the harm in giving people faith in themselves, even if it is a load of balls?