2023-06-28 07:07:11
Time.news – “I will never date a Pisces again”. Born in 1996, January 1, Kaelen Larocque tells the Washington Post that she is certain that her date of birth has influenced parts of her personality.
And like most of her peers she is convinced that theastrology is at the center of everyone’s life, determining “passions, love interests as well as the decisions to be made in life”. Better, according to him “the zodiac has a direct effect on our behavior and in life”. Everything depends on the stars, from self-awareness to self-esteem to relationships with others. Which also leads her to establish who she is compatible with and who is not.
For Allied Market Research, reports the Post, theGlobal astrology industry was worth $12.8 billion in 2021, up sharply from $2 billion in 2018. A leap. And it is expected that in 2031 it will reach 22.8 billion. The sector is booming, especially among young people, renamed GenZodiacs, frequenters of countless dating sites, platforms and apps focused on zodiac signs, books, social accounts. Reasons for the expansion?
According to experts, one of the reasons is due to the easy access that technology offers, while the second is due to the end of the pandemic which has left its aftermath in the mental conditions of the very young, between identity crisis and future uncertainty. Many rely on the stars, signs and horoscope for support in a critical period. “Although there is no scientific evidence to support the benefits of astrology,” says the Post. It’s one thing to experience joy and fulfillment from reading predictions, it’s another to base major life decisions “on disproven science. It’s risky,” warns the newspaper.
Of course, astrology has been talked about since the third millennium BC with peaks in popularity over the centuries, but starting from 1700 the practice, once linked to astronomy and the study of celestial objects, “has been widely banned by the community science,” comments Sten Odenwald, astronomer and director of STEM resource development at NASA. If anything, there are scientific studies that highlight “a correlation between the period of birth and personality, but everything that derives from astrological traditions is without foundation”.
Better: “It’s one thing to know the positions of the planets, but the big problem is interpreting what they mean in terms of human behavior”, Odenwald points out. “There is no connection at all” even if it turns out that “Americans know more about the own zodiac sign than the blood group “, the Post glosses. At least 70 million of them “check their horoscopes every day”. Completely irrational.
Comments Lauren Kassell, professor of history of science and medicine at Cambridge: “Developing an excessive dependence on astrology is dangerous, although, if people use astrology to give meaning to their lives, that’s fine, but not more than”. However, she concludes, the reasons why astrology is growing “is related to skepticism towards science and individualistic thinking”.
And for the very young? Gullible? No, according to Tracy L. Rogers, an astrologer and life coach in Philadelphia: millennials and GenZ “are more curious about themselves and their lives”therefore “more inclined to relate to astrology” because “it makes them feel better in a close dialogue with themselves”.
It may be unscientific, Caroline Kingsley, 38, tells the Post, “but it’s a nice way to observe the stars in the sky. And in any case, astrology is generally less assertive than religion”.
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