The Nirmukta Freethought Community

Hi,
I would like to bring forward for eveyone's amusement, some of the predictions that were made by reading my kundli by many different supposed astrologers. Please note, none of these were requested by me, but people around me.

1. When I was a child, a pandit at Hanuman Mandir near kinsway camp, delhi, predicted that I would grow up to be a doctor (and become a big name in that). He even wrote it on my patri as a guarantee. My dadi was very elated at this and for the rest of my life I was constantly made to believe that I was going to become a doctor. Until I reached class 11th and by my own choice opted for mathematics/computers instead of biology. That was the end of doctory for me.

2. When I was in 2nd year of college, it was predicted to my parents that I was going to fail in exams that year and lose 1 year of my studies. I passed with distinction that year.

3. A few years back, the company that I worked for asked me to apply for work visa for another country for a long term assignment. AFTER this, my parents went to see an astrologer and he predicted that I am destined to settle abroad and now my patri says I will surely fly and perhaps settle there only. BUT - even after I got my visa, the entire assignment got cancelled and I didn't get to go also.

But here are the Bumper predictions:

5. Only this one time, just for fun, my and my friend spoke to a palmist who was sitting at a restaurant where we had lunch, so I asked him when will I get married. I was 25 when I asked that question but he didn't know that. He said: "Very very soon. Before 30." Now what kind of a reply is that?

6. Last year, it was predicted that I am already married. As far as I know, I am not. - Should I laugh or cry?

The weakest prediction I've ever heard about myself (just 1-2 weeks back) from someone else:

7. "His work will be important to him and he will always work towards a goal in that respect and will not be content until he reaches his goal." - Wow!! What a prediction. This astrologer should write a book.

And this crap is what most of India believes. Any other contributions?

I'm supposed to be employed in a "Super company" next month and all my applications have fallen through! That one busted itself! The sound effect below is perfect to reflect that and I encourage we make this sound everytime a prediction bites the dust.





But crazy astrological predictions aside there was this one incident that happened about eight years ago, that had me a bit freaked. There was this seventy plus year old man on the Chennai public bus and he sat next to me. Without asking he said that I was a Brahmin (and mind you, I don't dress or act like a typical, conservative brahmin and I even wore shirts so that people wouldn't see the thread) and he told in no uncertain terms that he saw "greatness" in my eyes and "unimaginable success" in my future. He told me to remember him on that day and got off at the next bus stop. He didn't ask for money, nor any of my personal details- he just made this bizarre statement and left. To this day, I wonder why he said that...a random blessing from an old stranger on the bus? Weirrrrrrd.

(13-07-2011 01:22 PM)nick87 Wrote:  But crazy astrological predictions aside there was this one incident that happened about eight years ago, that had me a bit freaked. There was this seventy plus year old man on the Chennai public bus and he sat next to me. Without asking he said that I was a Brahmin (and mind you, I don't dress or act like a typical, conservative brahmin and I even wore shirts so that people wouldn't see the thread) and he told in no uncertain terms that he saw "greatness" in my eyes and "unimaginable success" in my future. He told me to remember him on that day and got off at the next bus stop. He didn't ask for money, nor any of my personal details- he just made this bizarre statement and left. To this day, I wonder why he said that...a random blessing from an old stranger on the bus? Weirrrrrrd.

He must have cold read. Possible cues he may have used:

1. How you look. If you have a fair skin, that is a cue.
2. Where you boarded the bus and what your destination is. If the time was evening and I was headed to a place like W. Mambalam, it is quite likely that I'm a brahmin.
3. The items you had on your person. Maybe somethings are in fashion only amongst brahmins? Again, 8 years back if I was wearing a Metallica T-shirt in Chennai, it is likely that I'm a brahmin.
4. Your accent.
   

Of course, the incident happened to you and you are in a better position to judge it. I just listed some possibilities. Only after excluding such things, can the incident be considered as weird

(13-07-2011 01:22 PM)nick87 Wrote:  But crazy astrological predictions aside there was this one incident that happened about eight years ago, that had me a bit freaked. There was this seventy plus year old man on the Chennai public bus and he sat next to me. Without asking he said that I was a Brahmin (and mind you, I don't dress or act like a typical, conservative brahmin and I even wore shirts so that people wouldn't see the thread) and he told in no uncertain terms that he saw "greatness" in my eyes and "unimaginable success" in my future. He told me to remember him on that day and got off at the next bus stop. He didn't ask for money, nor any of my personal details- he just made this bizarre statement and left. To this day, I wonder why he said that...a random blessing from an old stranger on the bus? Weirrrrrrd.

I have experienced something like this myself. When I was in my 7th standard and walking home with my friends, this random person came up to me and said, "You forehead is very pronounced. You will be very intelligent. I also see you have a tilak on your forehead. The gods have heard your parents prayers and granted you all this."

While I was completely flabbergasted by this, I had no clue at that time that the size of the skull is many times influential on the intelligence of a person. Also, when these weird predictions happen, they are always completely vague. It might apply to you as much as it does to the next person. Simply put, predictions are just a gamble on the events that might happen in life.

In my opinion maximum astrologists are fake only some are real and that's because they studied for it.

(18-04-2012 05:54 PM)anky2930 Wrote:  In my opinion maximum astrologists are fake only some are real and that's because they studied for it.

@anky2930 : Can you please explain who are "real" astrologers?

(18-04-2012 05:54 PM)anky2930 Wrote:  In my opinion maximum astrologists are fake only some are real and that's because they studied for it.

There are different kinds of astrology including Western and Eastern. Each insists that they are the real deal. Astrology has no basis in science. It can never explain how the position of the stars and the planets affects the individual nuances of over 7 billion human beings. How about the influences of galaxies and stars light years away from us? surely they must have some effect on us too!
How can you explain the fact that astrology doesn't apply to animals? Animals too have birthdates and I'm sure that zoos have latitude and longitudinal positions that can be useful to astrologers with their prediction. So how come I've never heard of a llama or perhaps an elephant blessed with good prospects who might grow up to be a doctor or engineer someday?

How can one compare the strength of buildings and say one is stronger than the other when the foundations are made of mud?
Astrology is proved to be bogus time and time again and it astounds me that people still flock to it like moth to a flame.

I was also supposed to become a doctor because the astrologer saw some triangle shape in the palm of my right hand! Doctor probably was a favourite those days because it was a coveted profession and the prospect of a good tip from the vicariously achieving parents must have been better with this prediction.

I was on a train a couple of years back and the gentleman next to me said that Saurav Ganguly was a great captain because he was a Sagittarian! I said that I did not believe in this stufff. His reply was "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust sir" and therefore implied that our lives are connected with stuff that we can't possibly understand. I told him that "Ashes to ashes...", I understood, but how the relative positions of stars in the sky interpreted as familiar shapes could affect us was a bit beyond me!

The usual - the moon causes tides etc and therefore how could we escape its influence, etc followed.

Srivathsa

Many adherents of astrology come from well-educated backgrounds and although this seems paradoxical, as long as people don't think rationally, a degree or two isn't really going to guarantee them immunity from such practices.
This is especially ludicrous as people openly take valid elements of science, like gravity for example, and twist it to suit their claims.
Sure, the moon affects the tides as well as the Sun, but that doesn't mean the sun's gravity affects me individually or to make the point clearer, affects another person differently.
Same sun-----> same gravity-----> different effects for different people?

Also the human brain is wired to make sense of patterns and see them where they aren't there. It's called apophenia. The stars in the sky are seen as abstract images of pots and pans, bears, holy men and even hunters.

And finally astrology can make sound people do unsound things. For example, I took a short week long course in my field of study and I met this Masters degree student from a Chennai university that is notorious for its segregation of the male and the female students. She gave me a stink eye the entire week at the course, because I shared my birth date with her ex-boyfriend. In return I groaned loudly and face-palmed myself.

One of my far, far, far. . . . . . relatives looked at my forehead for the first time and told my mom that I am very intelligent and a nastik and then went on to say some random vague things like "he will be great some day. But it will be very late in his life". He must have known that I am an atheist from some relative.

Future predictive astrology always seemed bogus to me and I think it is dangerous too. I am worried about self-fulfilling prophecies. Many people blindly believe their astrologers and take actions in such a way that it confirms the predictions. I think that is the real danger of astrology.

I used to believe in western astrology (I still have Linda Goodman's Sun, Love and Star signs) for some time as a teenager until I read about the Forer effect. And just to test it, I asked people for their signs and I read traits of random signs, then people immediately related to it! I realized I have been a sucker

I think I felt nice listening to my trait prediction. 'You are a staunch humanitarian, your friendships are a reflection of your universal broad-mindedness and adventurous spirit towards different ideas, cultures and philosophies'... sounds pleasing

Just curious, what will happen to astrology when we travel to space? Like baby born on space-ship?