Monday, 10 August 2015

Astrology : A Science or Superstition?

Human beings have often been curious to know their future. Anytime a person is in dilemma and can't very easily come out of it, he desires to know regardless of whether the days of his misery will come to an finish at all. And if yes, then even though? While a single invests a excellent deal of time, work or revenue into some project, it is organic to wonder whether or not that investment will bear some fruit. There have usually been people today about who have effectively predicted future events. Their solutions had been distinctive - some men and women can effortlessly appear into the future, some use tarot cards, some draw up an astrological chart which we contact horoscopes, some study the lines in the palms of men and women. 1 can't deny that future has been accurately predicted several a occasions and by lots of a folks. Every single thriving prediction proves that it is certainly probable to appropriately predict future.

In the ancient instances, astrologers have been held to be in fantastic esteem by the men and women. There was no distinction among astronomers and astrologers. In reality, astronomy and Astrology had been not deemed to be two diverse subjects. Numerous will be shocked to know that most of the renowned scientists of the previous, such as Sir Isaac Newton, had been astrologers as well. In ancient India Astrology was recognized as "Jyotish Shastra" which integrated predictive Astrology also as what we know as astronomy. Needless to say that the astrologers of that era have been all wonderful mathematicians also. An achieved astrologer was named "Trikal-darshee" : a single who may well see previous, present and future. It would maybe not be an exaggeration to say that Astrology was regarded to be the foremost branch of science.

Gradually more than a period of time this subject came into disrepute.

How Astrology lost its exalted status?

It is a truth of life that individuals emulate effective, well-known and respected people today. Seeing the social status enjoyed by astrologers, charlatans began masquerading as astrologers. They learnt a couple of tricks of the trade and began duping gullible persons. It was and nevertheless is a incredibly profitable small business. An astrologer earns income by generating predictions when providing no assure that any of his predictions will turn into correct. There is no income back assure :-). After an astrologer sets up shop, individuals start out coming to him in the hope that could be he will be able to foresee their future properly. The astrologer is in a excellent position. For instance, he might make predictions around ten folks, obtaining only 1 prediction correct. The nine individuals, around whom he predicted wrongly, will never come back to him. But the tenth individual, around which the astrologer was able to predict properly, will not only come back to him once more but as well refer a lot of other folks to him, citing individual encounter. In this way, the enterprise of an astrologer constantly flourishes, no matter how he himself fares in his trade. But the downside of this was that astrologers, as a group, began being observed as lots of dubious people including politicians of the modern day age. As soon as such impression began gaining ground, Astrology as a subject no longer remained desirable to intelligent men and women. Individuals, who had talent, began to pursue other fields of expertise. More than a period of time, the inevitable occurred. No talent, worth its salt, chose to pursue Astrology as a vocation or a hobby and the outcome of this is for everybody to see in the present occasions.

There was a single much more incredibly essential purpose for Astrology getting a single of the lesser fields of practical experience. It was the decline of India, the fountainhead of human civilization, and its loss of status as the repository of all the experience of the ancient globe (see How India lost its Glory). The Islamic hordes, who attacked and looted India lots of a instances and later ruled that nation for hundred of years, had no respect for priceless operates of art, the magnificent architecture and the other exalted places of human endeavor. They destroyed most of the ancient temples, burnt down libraries such as Nalanda and Takshshila and permanently took away innumerable books of infinite wisdom from the future generations of humanity. A excellent quantity of recorded practical experience was lost, astrological books incorporated. This loss proved to be irreparable, as the then Indian society became engaged in guaranteeing its survival and a constant struggle against the aggressors. The handful of men and women, who had some invaluable texts and scriptures with them, had been challenging put to maintain the remaining operates of ancient sages. That is why, even though 1 research Astrology , he feels as if some important hyperlinks are missing. With the Hindu philosophy losing its ground it was organic that Astrology would shed its prominent place also. As the modern day science created and the scientific temperament gained ground, with the dearth of genuine astrologers, Astrology began fading into oblivion.

The criticism and The defense

Astrology is scoffed at by persons for two main factors. Initial, of course, is that the predictions created by astrologers always goes wrong. Secondly, if one particular requires his horoscope to diverse astrologers, they make distinct predictions. They even make diverse horoscopes provided the very same set of information relating to the birth of someone. Those information force folks conclude that Astrology is not a science and that it is only a indicates to befool folks for the astrologers' advantage.

A single can't deny that the motives cited above are valid. Nevertheless, there is some part of prejudice against Astrology which too plays some part in the denigration of this science. Let us take an instance to illustrate this factor.

A man falls sick due to some illness. He goes to his neighborhood physician. The medical doctor advises him to go for some tests. Once seeing the final results of these tests and taking into consideration the patient's symptoms, the physician concludes that the man has contracted some unique illness say, Sickosis :-). He prescribes some medicines and the patient goes property in the hope of acquiring rid of the sickness Once feasible. As soon as taking the medicines for subsequent two days, the patient finds that the medicines are not operating the way they have been supposed to effort. He goes back to the medical doctor and the medical doctor modifications the medicines and the individual begins responding to the second set of medication instantly. Inside a handful of days, the particular person is back to his old wholesome self.

What would have occurred if the individual had not responded to that second set of medicines? Most perhaps he would have gone to one more physician. That physician would have advised him to go for far more tests, diagnosed his dilemma as per his own experience and expertise and treated him accordingly. Once more, there would were the exact same probability of the patient obtaining rid of his illness.

So, in the finish it boils down to dilemma of true diagnosis. When the illness is known appropriately, it can be treated effectively. The medical doctor's trouble is to determine the illness properly, offered the symptoms and the benefits of the tests performed. In truth, he guesses the illness primarily based on the symptoms the patient displays and to confirm his suspicions the medical professional asks the patient to undergo a distinct set of tests. If the medical doctor's Initially guess is proved wrong, he means one more set of tests to the patient aimed at confirming his second ideal guess of the illness.

There is a single much more component which may perhaps mar the possibilities of the patient having greater: the test outcomes. If the lab conducting these tests tends to make a error, the medical doctor is bound to be misled by the final results. It has as well been noticed a lot of a instances that even with the very same symptoms and the identical set of test final results, various physicians might diagnose the challenge differently.

The exact same point, even though taking place in the context of Astrology , is proffered as a proof that it is not a science. Though a physician tends to make a error, his expertise are blamed not the Healthcare Science. But if an astrologer fails, it is Astrology which is viewed as a pseudo-science. If medical doctors can arrive at unique conclusions on the basis of similar information, why astrologers ought to not be permitted to differ with Every other. If you take the blood samples of the similar patient to various labs, you are nearly certain to find variations in their findings. If the machines constructed with all our scientific experience at our disposal make errors, no one particular denigrates contemporary science itself. But although it comes to Astrology, individuals are only also prepared to dismiss it. Possibly, by carrying out this, people today want to prove that they have, what is known as, scientific temperament.

Why Astrologers go wrong in their prediction?

Lack of expertise: This is probably the foremost purpose. Most of the astrologers, When studying a bit, find it tough to resist the temptation to begin creating predictions. A certain percentage of their predictions do develop into accurate because they have learnt a small bit of Astrology When all. They can't maintain themselves back from displaying off their half baked expertise. A further explanation if the temptation to start out reaping, After attainable, the fruits of their efforts produced in mastering the subject. When the buyers start out flocking to them, they drop the urge to preserve understanding additional. As well, they are left with tiny spare time to make additional efforts to learn much more. They get as well busy duping people today.

Lack of Talent: In the modern day occasions, due to the fact the pursuit of this subject is not viewed as quite respectable, people of genius do not take up the read of Astrology. They would rather favor to turn into scientists, engineers, medical doctors, littérateurs, artists and so on. This does not support the improvement of Astrology nor does it enable add to the expertise or find the missing hyperlinks in this subject. At present, there are no significant studies projects associated to this field. Hence this base of expertise does not get updated.

Wrong Information: As the quite basis of Astrology is mathematical, the information which includes time of birth and so forth. should be accurate. If this information is wrong, the horoscope and consequently the interpretation of it is bound to be faulty. The position of cusps, property divisions, and the planetary positions at any provided moment requires to be accurate also. The lots of ephemeris differ from Each and every other so a great deal that it appears outstanding. 1 should stick to the most accurate information (for instance, from NASA) for calculations, in this age of science. Usually, astrologers tend to take the effortless route, that of Soon after some prepared-reckoner sort of items, top to inaccuracies in their calculations.

Destiny of the subject: It could so take place that the fate of the individual who desires his future study, does not choose the particular person in recognizing his future. This idea may perhaps look far fetched but it is not. Even in contemporary occasions, with all the improvement of Healthcare science, sufferers maintain dying of completely treatable ailments. If somebody is destined to die of pneumonia, he will in spite of the truth that millions of people today about the globe are effectively treated for it Each and every year. If fate can play a function here why can't it play the similar function concerning Astrology.

The extremely nature of Future: Contemporary science divides the universe in two components: identified and the unknown. It is believed that what ever is unknown now, will develop into identified tomorrow. More than a period of time, Each issue will turn into identified one particular day. But the enlightened sages have mentioned that certain elements of the existence is unknowable. Those items do not belong in the domain of human expertise. Certain elements of future too belongs to the exact same domain.

Any individual, who will read Astrology with an open thoughts, can't dismiss it as one thing with no merit. It is an effortless activity for astrologers to appropriately tell certain issues around a man, which includes his physical traits, ailments he is almost certainly to get afflicted with, his temperament, his all round results in life in terms of funds he earns or fame he achieves, the nature of his profession and so forth., easily by hunting at his appropriately drawn horoscope. It is in the matters of information and the timing of events that astrologers tend to go awry. What is necessary is a fresh strategy to the subject. Brilliant minds ought to take it up for read, accurate some anomalies and misconceptions which this science has acquired more than the long previous. Then only this subject can regain its rightful place as a really serious and essential branch of practical experience.

Ashok Kumar Gupta

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