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Why is astrology widely considered a pseudoscience?
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astrology
Zodiac wheel showing the 12 astrological constellations or signs from an illumination of the poem Breviari d'Amour, Catalan (Spain), late 14th century; in the collection of the British Library.
Astrology is widely classified as a pseudoscience because it lacks a plausible mechanism to explain how celestial bodies could influence human lives, and its core claims have been thoroughly debunked by scientific study. While astrology was once studied alongside early astronomy, it has not been considered a science since the 1600s.12
Key reasons for its pseudoscientific status include:
- Lack of Evidence: There is no rational basis for dividing the human population into 12 groups based on constellations, and scientific attempts to find statistical correlations between planetary positions and human traits have yielded inconclusive or negative results.12
- Falsifiability: Critics argue that astrology is falsifiable and has been falsified; however, proponents often ignore or reject contradictory evidence rather than refining their theories.1
- Astronomical Inaccuracy: Due to the Earth's axial wobble over the last 2,000 years, the constellations no longer align with the dates used in traditional astrological signs. Contemporary astrology often relies on an outdated version of the sky rather than current astronomical reality.1
- Absence of Theory: There is no coherent explanation for how planets exert influence or how their alleged "spheres of influence" operate.2