Astronomy - astronomy correlations - a method of inquiry?

Question

How would one approach an investigation of connections the position of the earth in relation to celestial bodies and events on the planet surface?

Would a thorough examination of the history of worldwide attempts to generate random numbers by various methods, combined with precise azimuths of particular celestial bodies from the planet surface location at the time the numbers were generated represent a valid test?

Answer 1

Your idea of trying to identify a correlation between randomly generated numbers and the positions of celestial objects is interesting. If you have a sufficient number of data points and a result that is significantly different than chance, you might have something to talk about. However, without any mechanistic theory which tells you in what way one celestial body astrologically "influences" another and how any of them would astrologically influence a random number generator on the earth, the design of the study would seem problematic and prone to subjective interpretation and bias. The study would likely turn into a "data mining" exercise where celestial bodies that support the correlation are preferentially searched for while those that don't are preferentially ignored.

And I would strongly suspect that if such a study was undertaken in a scientifically sound manner, a lack of significant results would lead to the study taking a different turn and bogging down in the pathological pursuit of extremely tiny statistical aberrations in a desperate attempt to find something, anything, that could be used as evidence. It's happened before.

EDIT: to address your responses

Regarding pathological science, see Prof. Irving Langmuir. It relates specifically to pursuit of tiny statistical flukes as evidence, and it is of great relevance here.

Regarding persuading others that my views are valid, EVERY person who responds with an answer does so because they believe their views are valid. Your objection doesn't make sense.

My predictions are just that, predictions, and require no justification as such. Moreover, there is no scientifically supported mechanism for supposing celestial influences (nebulously defined as they are) on earthly events besides our own power of suggestion, nor is there anything known in the entire science of physics which would predict it. Finally, astrology itself has no basis in science and no theoretical structure and never has. Based on these considerations, it would be truly an astronomically unlikely stroke of luck if a real correlation could be found that did not depend on biased subjective interpretation of the data. This view is neither illogical, unscientific nor biased.

However, as I said before, the idea of such a study is interesting and anyone who has the time and desire ought to give it a go. Similar studies have been done with random number generators but not in relation to astrology. None of them produced positive results, but don't let that influence you. Best of luck with your endeavor.

EDIT: Nothing I have said here is unfounded, but instead rather well supported and based on my knowledge and past experience. As far as speculation goes, there is very little speculative content in my answer given the pseudoscientific and purely mystical nature of astrology and the rather embarrassing statistical analyses of paranormal RNG studies to date, and that discussion did address the question at hand. Regarding "unbiased inquiry", that is something that you do to investigate the answer to a question, which is what my answer addressed. The mere act of publicly asking the question as a prelude to research is only a formality and doesn't say much one way or the other about potential biases.

Answer 2

Well, I don't believe that masses of rock and ice, and vast clouds of fusing hydrogen nuclei, billions of miles away can have any effect on our lives here.

Unless, of course, one of them mysteriously veers away from it's normal orbit, and collides with Earth ;-)

However, that said, I can't help but wonder if the original people who came up with the idea - the Babylonians - weren't neccessarily stupid. Supersitious, sure, but clever. After all, their measurements of planetary bodies and stars were highly accurate: they calculated the length of the year, and it was them who divided a circle into 360 degrees. They also came up with the modern measurements of time: hours, minutes, seconds, etc. (they used a base 6 method of counting - hence the odd recurrance of multiples of 6 in time and angles).

The other thing about the Babylonians, springing from this detailed star-mapping and time-keeping, is that it was logical and obvious to them to order their society around these stars. The constellations were a useful time-keeping device, helpful to plan when to plant crops, and when to harvest them.

Perhaps it wasn't the stars themselves, but just what time of year you were born in. If you were born in a particular month, then you will have been gestating for the preceeding 9 months. So the foods your mother would have eaten in that time might have been different from those she would have had available at a different time of the year. I mean, there were no refrigerators or all-year irrigated greenhouses then. So crops and foodstuffs would depend on seasons.

Maybe the sixth month (to pull one out of my hat) is important for development of a certain part of the brain, and the foods eaten by your mother at that time will effect that, and therefore influence your personality.

Obviously, this won't be 100%. The wealth of your mother would have an influence on foodstuffs, as will whether there is a famine or a war that year, as well as many other variables.

But, if those ancient Babylonians noticed that people born in late summer *tended* to have certain personality types, then a correlation to the stars visible in the sky would be, to them, an obvious leap.

Answer 3

I dunno, I think there are too many celestial bodies that you could "just happen" to align with randomly. I suppose if you were to take the data from one specific location and review the data to the major bodies and show a consistent pattern it might be a viable theory...but one or two examples isn't enough to make me want to find out the answer.

Answer 4

The concept of time comes from placement and movement of planets. Time does not come from this planet.

I would start with a farmers almanac that shows when to plant, when to set posts in the earth, when to cut your hair, etc. You would at least be able to investigate some normal situations that can be proven.