Astrology

Reading an extract of the article Preliminary Research report of Elf magnetic fields and EEG entrainment by Dr Robert C. Beck (at Bio-Medical Research Ass, Los Angeles, CA, March 1978) , I recalled an unusual scientific investigation done by some Belgian fellow whose name escapes me. He checked for correllations between the time of birth for those who came first in sports contests (ie those supposedly endowed with more or less of the elusive quality known as winner instinct) on one hand and for unusual relative positions of heavenly bodies at the time of their birth on the other. He found that indeed there was such a correllation. He explained it by suggesting that people qualifying as winners would have some kind of hightened sensitivity for weak changes of gravity such as those that accompany certain unusual configurations of the planets. And that this kind of hightened sensitivity would increase the probability that the baby would pop out in conjunction with slight changes of gravity occurring for such planetary configurations. At first his results were received favorably but soon they were rejected by the main stream of scientists whose oppinions were essential for his acceptance. Or so I remember it. Anyway in Beck's article, I am reminded of the athmospheric resonances at frequencies near the human brain rythms and it is suggested that the gravity vectors of the planets has an influence on the resonance frequencies. Beck also writes ..there is welldocumented correllation between these geophysical phenomena and periods of political unrest, mood alteration and health cycles
I dont know anything about the latter effects but the Belgian fellow seemed to have based his conclusions on the study of a statistically significant selection of people, many thousands. And he spent many years struggling with this unusual type of research according to the book where I read about it.
Although I have never checked his data, if we assume it was correctly done it is an example of how to use science to prove that the configuration of the planets at the time of birth and our personalities actually have some degree of correllation at least for some of us. The usual attitude from scientists is otherwise to angrily and cathegorically refute everything connected with astrology.
An unprejudical application of science seems to open up the case.
Well admittedly only in a very restricted sense. I admit that I am bit of a teaser to bring it up.

In the 1980s I read an article in the swedish daily newspaper Sydsvenska dagbladet by the now late professor David Ingvar, the brain researcher, whom I much respect. He complained about astrology and was worried about the fact that this irrational type of phenomenon wouldn't go away and that people would beleive in the stuff. But just like so many others who have done the same previously he didn't argue scientifically. Not really. He didnt formulate the case clearly, talking about statistically significant correllations which, in essence, is what science is all about. No matter how strange they may seem.
Compare with the perturbations of random sequences by will power, actually published in prestigious scientific journals. Whether or not those experiments were sufficiently scrutinized for potential weaknesses in procedure I don't know but as long as no such weaknesses could be proven there is no alternative but to let it pass.
Of course in a daily news paper article the readers are not used to dry scientific discussions. But what's the point in debating the topic when it isn't done properly. I remember being quite irritated. Is that all he has got to say, just whining a bit, I thought. Personally I dont think irrational belief systems are necessarily any threat to science. But I do think intolerance from scientists is a kind of threat. I have noticed (both by reading about it and through other channels) that scientists traditionally fear to become sort of compromised by showing too much of openness for various forms of supposedly irrational ideas. Famous mathematicians have had secret inclinations towards mysticism and religious ideas that they didnt want to admit outwards. I hope the world is going towards more of openness and the little example above can be viewed as a kind of test. Those for whom the term 'astrology' is like a red herring need to loosen up a bit. So I beleive.