Zodiac

mistergreen77 · Post by **mistergreen77** » Fri Apr 14, 2006 8:25

If they are preaching they can see the future or do miracles then they are just as contemptible as astrologers.

"Notice that the most superstitious ages have always been those of the most horrible crimes... The superstitious man is ruled by fanatics and he becomes one himself. On the whole, the less superstition, the less fanaticism, and the less fanaticism, the fewer miseries." - Voltaire

"Écrasez l’infâme! " - Voltaire

Ancsur2002 · Post by **Ancsur2002** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 13:45

Zandrav Ibistenn wrote:That means that personal accounts of ghost stories are unacceptable,

Who do you think you are to determine what is 'acceptable' and what is 'unacceptable'??!? Don't we live in a democracy with the right of free speech?

Zandrav Ibistenn · Post by **Zandrav Ibistenn** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 21:24

Ancsur2002 wrote:
Zandrav Ibistenn wrote:That means that personal accounts of ghost stories are unacceptable,
Who do you think you are to determine what is 'acceptable' and what is 'unacceptable'??!? Don't we live in a democracy with the right of free speech?

Please,

I didn't say you weren't allowed to express your opinion at all, but that it was the wrong place to do so.

Like posting a political thread concerning terrorism in the tech help.
Or a "tell me about your holidays"-thread in the suggestionbox.

You see?

Baldie · Post by **Baldie** » Thu May 11, 2006 5:27

Personally I see nothing wrong with this subject so may I politely suggest that people settle down before I bring out the Big RED Stick

mistergreen77 · Post by **mistergreen77** » Thu May 11, 2006 13:13

At the risk of you making good your threats

- is the wielding of a big red stick the right way to moderate a forum that asks people to be prepared to discuss? Compared to Zandrav I am merely opposed to display of zodiacs but on the same principle. Considering the Symposium is a meeting place for intelligent discussion, could you please state your reasons why this topic should be allowed here?

Baldie · Post by **Baldie** » Thu May 11, 2006 14:02

First off, for those who know me, the Big Red Stick is an old joke from the days when OG had an active IRC channel.

As to my reasons for letting this thread stay, I have nothing against the odd lighthearted topic, sometimes people need to realise that even in serious discussion Forums there is a need for light relief, just as long as it does not become a place for Spam.
As to the subject of this thread, there has long been widely opposing views on the subject of Horoscopes, Starsigns etc, and maybe this thread can enable people to put forward their views on the subject in an orderly manner.
/Me being a Cranky Old Man

/Me waits for a fadedmind reply

mistergreen77 · Post by **mistergreen77** » Thu May 11, 2006 15:42

Now comes the spam

If the gravitational pull of the planets and stars when you are born is supposed to determine your personality, why does not the gravitational pull of the midwives determine it more, I suspect if we calculate the effect of each gravitating objects according to Newtons laws the midwives gravity would outweigh that of the planets.

Can anybody produce any scientific evidence that shows correlation between the claims of astrology and scores on any standard personality test? (random subjects who don't know anything about the reasons for the experiment). I will not accept coincidence as evidence. It would be more surprising if there were no freaky coincidence and they do not count as evidence.

Seriously, if people believe astrology, its frightening to think who or what else they will believe.

Zandrav Ibistenn · Post by **Zandrav Ibistenn** » Fri May 12, 2006 0:45

Baldie wrote:As to my reasons for letting this thread stay, I have nothing against the odd lighthearted topic, sometimes people need to realise that even in serious discussion Forums there is a need for light relief, just as long as it does not become a place for Spam.

My original point was that if there is a separate subforum for deeper discussion about life, the universe and everything compared to the light chatting in the marketplace, then there must be a certain established standard to threads and subjects in the former forum to warrent its independent existance from the latter.

The differentiation is simple: Discussion in the symposium rests on arguments, whereas such are not required in the marketplace. Thus you cannot have a thread that goes on like this:

"My zodiac is A! What's yours?"

"Mine's also A! What an incredible coincidence!"

"I'm a B. My horoscope promises me fortune this week. Guess I'm lucky!"

(Without my intervention it would have continued this way until removed by a responsible moderator).

Like it is now the thread has evolved to be about the validity of astrology in general, and as such the thread belongs in the symposium.

So now we can await the arrival of someone willing to defend astrology against mr. green's arguments, but I have to admit that I'll be very surprised to actually see anyone competently able to do so.

We do need more threads and I strongly encourage the occasional non-posting visitors here to submit some. It doesn't have to be about an advanced subject or contain an elaborate stance in its initial post, but it must be argued. - Or it could be a question.