People have often let their horoscopes guide them through daily life. As horoscopes are a popular medium in social media and online articles, compatibility between people is now being determined by star signs.
The debate over astrology’s accuracy of personality readings and predictions has sparked students to consider just how much the stars impact their lives.
Ethan Hom, a freshman nursing major, expressed his doubts about horoscopes.
“Astrology seems like something that people used to really, really believe in,” Hom said. “But today, I think it is a scam. I think astrology interpretations are vague, and because of this when something happens people fall victim to confirmation bias.”
Going along the lines of a biased mindset, people often twist astrological predictions to conform to their desires. “They want to believe in a higher power that has a weight on their livelihood,” Hom said.
Lorra de Guzman, a freshman nursing major, shared her thoughts on star signs.
“I think astrology puts life into a good perspective, but I don’t think people should live by it,” she said. “I don’t think it’s the end-all be-all that should determine what your choices are in life.”
De Guzman also said that astrology is believed simply because humanity wants to put faith in something. “I do believe that they try to construe their horoscope to fit with what they want to read or hear in life,” she said.
Horoscopes are a popular medium in social media and online articles.
De Guzman also mentioned Co-Star, a phone app that reads your birth chart and sends your phone daily horoscopes. Its growing popularity among young people has increased the interest in astrology and perhaps even the amount of trust given to the stars.
“I see a lot of people posting horoscope notifications on their Snapchat stories and writing text that agrees with it,” de Guzman said.
Sarah Laadem, a freshman elementary education major, sees both sides of the astrology debate.
“I don’t necessarily believe in it,” she said. “Yes, I do read my horoscope. I wouldn’t say regularly, but I do read it.”
Laadem agreed that while astrology is commonly used to reaffirm personal desires or fulfill wishful thinking, it can also provide answers.
“People want to see if they can open up parts of themselves or know more about themselves,” Laadem said. “They might believe in it because of personal experience, or they’ve seen people of their sign behave the same way.”
The planet Venus usually enters retrograde between early October to mid-November. While the planet continues to move in its usual direction for 2019, Venus’s retrograde signifies changes in relationships, whether they be friendly or romantic.
Laadem said that nowadays the concepts of stars reading out the future is mostly something for fun, but retrograde could possibly have some truth to it.
“It might explain why some things have been happening,” Laadem said. “Honestly, I’m not that into it. The part of astrology that I believe mostly is the certain zodiac signs.”
The consensus between these students seem to be that the stars and birth dates do not determine the future in any way.
“This is not a definitive way to assess people, but it certainly can sometimes help you with the way you approach someone,” Laadem said. “As a whole, I believe [astrology] has some truths regarding the characteristics, but I don’t believe it affects how the world is revolving.”
Catherine San can be reached at catherine.san@student.shu.edu.
