Well many of you might have come across these words. For the less nerdy let me demystify it : Sheldon Cooper. If you still don't get it then for god's sake hop on to another site: something like www.candyland.com might suit your taste.
I myself have, on ample occasions, tried to verify the validity of horoscopes (though on miniature scale like limiting myself to raising it as the topic of discussion amongst my friend(s) where I am often confronted with silence amalgamated with contempt looks) but I really didn't give it its due importance until I heard these words being enunciated by Jim Parsons.
As a theory goes, which has been conclusively proven right by the consistent efforts of Bertram Forer and his meticulously designed series of experiments, astrology/horoscope does not emerge out as true science.
In 1948, Forer conducted an experiment which involved his own students as the test subjects. He gave them their "Horoscope" which the students were told was produced based on the inputs provided by them like their date of birth,place of birth etc. The test subjects were asked to rate the prediction/nature of the horoscope on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being 'not close at all' and 5 being 'absolutely accurate'. The average rating was found to be 4.26 and so were the average ratings of later experiments conducted by many more enthusiasts. The catch in this experiment is that all the test subjects were given the same piece of prediction: a fact about which the subjects were unaware for obvious reasons.
Forer concluded that this false impression which the subjects made about their horoscope was because of their belief in the source which makes them and the assurance that the prediction was tailor-made for them. Also Forer noticed a pattern in them which was striking yet remains elusive. Most of the predictions put forward by them are extremely vague and twisted which when broken down into layman terms simply state the obvious and hence apply to generally everyone. For example "You will face ups and downs in financial terms". Who does not face ups and downs in market? These fluctuations keep the economy running. Some might be excited to argue by stating that many of the predictions have worked for them. Well statistically the probability of such statements to go wrong is less. A point to be noted is here is that no one would remember the predictions going wrong. But only those which do prove themselves manage to engrave a mark ergo causing the wrong ones to go unnoticed. A statistical institute has worked out that the if you save a person's life, then the probability of the same person saving your life, somewhere in the future down the river of time, is close to 30%. Well, then what are the chances of these predictions, printed everyday in the dailies, being right. Pretty high! Also, mathematically, these are applicable to every one who reads the paper: millions in number!!!
Though these facts are out there, horoscope/astrology still finds a major spot in our society. This may be primarily due to the fear of them emerging out correct thereby giving those who make it a chance to say "I told you so".
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*Note: While I state the above, I in no way am in support of any theory and nor do I intend to impose my ideas on anyone. You can, however, chose to ignore and swear to never come back again to this blog. For any suggestion I would prefer an email than the comments section below.
I myself have, on ample occasions, tried to verify the validity of horoscopes (though on miniature scale like limiting myself to raising it as the topic of discussion amongst my friend(s) where I am often confronted with silence amalgamated with contempt looks) but I really didn't give it its due importance until I heard these words being enunciated by Jim Parsons.As a theory goes, which has been conclusively proven right by the consistent efforts of Bertram Forer and his meticulously designed series of experiments, astrology/horoscope does not emerge out as true science.
In 1948, Forer conducted an experiment which involved his own students as the test subjects. He gave them their "Horoscope" which the students were told was produced based on the inputs provided by them like their date of birth,place of birth etc. The test subjects were asked to rate the prediction/nature of the horoscope on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 being 'not close at all' and 5 being 'absolutely accurate'. The average rating was found to be 4.26 and so were the average ratings of later experiments conducted by many more enthusiasts. The catch in this experiment is that all the test subjects were given the same piece of prediction: a fact about which the subjects were unaware for obvious reasons.
Forer concluded that this false impression which the subjects made about their horoscope was because of their belief in the source which makes them and the assurance that the prediction was tailor-made for them. Also Forer noticed a pattern in them which was striking yet remains elusive. Most of the predictions put forward by them are extremely vague and twisted which when broken down into layman terms simply state the obvious and hence apply to generally everyone. For example "You will face ups and downs in financial terms". Who does not face ups and downs in market? These fluctuations keep the economy running. Some might be excited to argue by stating that many of the predictions have worked for them. Well statistically the probability of such statements to go wrong is less. A point to be noted is here is that no one would remember the predictions going wrong. But only those which do prove themselves manage to engrave a mark ergo causing the wrong ones to go unnoticed. A statistical institute has worked out that the if you save a person's life, then the probability of the same person saving your life, somewhere in the future down the river of time, is close to 30%. Well, then what are the chances of these predictions, printed everyday in the dailies, being right. Pretty high! Also, mathematically, these are applicable to every one who reads the paper: millions in number!!!
Though these facts are out there, horoscope/astrology still finds a major spot in our society. This may be primarily due to the fear of them emerging out correct thereby giving those who make it a chance to say "I told you so".
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*Note: While I state the above, I in no way am in support of any theory and nor do I intend to impose my ideas on anyone. You can, however, chose to ignore and swear to never come back again to this blog. For any suggestion I would prefer an email than the comments section below.
