What’s your sign?

“Omg I could never date a Capricorn, it just wouldn’t work out at all”

-some random twitter account, circa 2020

We all know about horoscopes and astrology and stars signs. So many people actually believe their sign can predict what kind of person they are and what kind of tendencies they have. And most of it is simple confirmation bias— if you’re a Taurus and you read that you’re more likely to sleep in, I bet you can think up plenty of times you’ve slept in. But plenty of people out there, especially hyper-vocal tweeters, seriously think they can attribute certain human qualities and tendencies to an individual’s star sign.

This leads me to believe a huge portion of the population is gullible enough to be convinced what kind of person they are by anybody without any credibility at all. That’s probably not such a controversial opinion lol but let me explain anyway.

Super Tuesday is coming up so I guess it’s only appropriate to use politicians as an example. Imagine a politician who needs to establish a base of voters to buy into his/her platform. And that platform is supposed to help people who feel helpless currently. What’s the politician going to spend his campaign doing? Telling people they are helpless. And he/she is just the one to save them.

But just convincing people that they’re helpless isn’t good enough. It won’t bring people together to form a voter base because everybody feels helpless sometimes. So the politician would have to tell you that you’re helpless for a reason. You have to be told that you are helpless for a reason you can’t control— like your sign.

“You’re helpless because China stole your jobs!”

“You’re helpless because you’re a minority!”

“You’re helpless because the government is taking your money!”

“You’re helpless because you’re a woman!”

“You’re helpless because automation is coming!”

You’ve heard all these statements made by politicians before. I’m not going to speak to the legitimacy of any of them. You can decide that for yourself. But the point is this: it’s all just a classic and effective strategy to convince people they need you. Don’t be fooled by it. Don’t let anyone tell you that your star sign dictates who you are or how you are.

Filip, again.