Researcher Puts Astrologers to the Test and Says They Fail

A University of California researcher has rejected the claims of astrologers but says they should not be outlawed because they are “entitled to their beliefs.”

“Astrologers who claim they can analyze a person’s character and predict that person’s life course just by reading the ‘stars’ are fooling the public and themselves,” said Shawn Carlson, a researcher at UC Berkeley’s Lawrence Laboratory and a doctoral candidate in physics at UCLA.

Carlson said that in a “carefully controlled” study, astrologers showed no special ability to interpret personality from astrological readings.

And, he said, they performed “much worse” in the test than they had predicted.

Debunking Their Claims

Carlson’s article in the scientific journal Nature debunked astrologers’ claims that they can solve personal problems by reading “natal charts”--individual horoscopes cast according to a person’s date, time and place of birth.

“It is more likely that when sitting face-to-face with a client, astrologers read clients’ needs, hopes and doubts from their body language,” he said.

But, Carlson said in a statement, he disagreed with those who want astrology outlawed.

“People have believed in astrology for thousands of years and no doubt will continue to do so no matter what scientists discover,” he said. “They are entitled to their beliefs, but they should know that there is no factual evidence on which to base them.”

Carlson explained that his study involved 30 American and European astrologers considered by their peers to be among the best in the art.

Tried 116 Charts

He asked them to interpret natal charts for 116 unseen subjects. They were not allowed to have face-to-face contact with the subjects.

The astrologers were provided three anonymous personality profiles--one from a subject and the others chosen at random--and asked to choose the one that best matched the natal chart.

Carlson said that the astrologers were able to correctly match only one of every three natal charts with the proper personality profiles--the very proportion predicted by chance.

“In addition,” he said, “astrologers in the study fell far short of their own predictions that they would correctly match one of every two natal charts provided.

“Even when astrologers expressed strong confidence in a particular match, they were no more likely to be correct.”

Based on his findings, Carlson said, many people would do better to spend their money on trained psychological counselors.