"Why are people being stupid, Davan? Why?"

[missroserose]

I have been seeing far too many MSN links for "Astrology: Diet tips for 2007" and "Finances: Astrology 2007". Are there really that many people who take this kind of stuff seriously? Hell, I want that gig - pull some random advice that sounds fairly sage and reliable out of my arse, slap a "Pisces" or "Scorpio" label on it, and have thousands of people think that it's custom-tailored to them and follow it to the letter. *sigh*

I should probably note here that I don't think there's necessarily nothing to the concept behind astrology - God knows there are likely all sorts of universal forces that affect us that we have no clue about, some of which may be tied to planetary movements. But the vast majority of popular astrology seems to be absolute garbage - how many of these people have actually studied the movements of the planets and the way such things affect people? Call me crazy, but I'm going to guess that most of the "Aries Diet Tips" are thought up by someone sitting in front of a computer screen with a mug of tea, rather than someone sitting in front of a telescope.

Hell, I'm a fairly decent writer. Maybe I should look into doing astrology for a living. Sitting in front of my computer with a mug of tea sounds a lot more appealing than getting up at 7:00 every morning and driving to work...

Comments

[jamesd.livejournal.com]

Well, I can recommend sitting at home in front of the computer with a cup of tea as a workplace. But not at 7AM - I start nearer 5PM. :) One of the joys of doing support work for M y S Q L is that my office is one short corridor from my bed.

Astrology seems to regularly prove the least pleasing theories about human gullibility. A bit like religion, really, but it doesn't promise eternal life, so maybe astrology is more ethical? :)

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Lucky you. I would like nothing better than a nice home in a semi-private area with a job where I'm not required to commute. On the other hand, I'd probably volunteer at the local animal shelter or something a couple days a week - otherwise I probably wouldn't get enough social contact. =)

As to astrology vs. religion, there's probably a whole thesis in there, or at the very least a term paper. So I'm not going to touch that one with a 39.5 foot pole...

[jamesd.livejournal.com]

I should have mentioned that I have to specify 5 core hours a day, which don't have to be contiguous, and the rest flex. People use it to fit work around school and children and maybe animal shelters. If you know anyone who knows M y S Q L well, there are lots of support jobs available, anywhere in the world - company is on IPO growth track and most of the work is from home.

Wise of you to keep a pole between you and that question! :)

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's almost tempting enough to make me want to learn about it. Unfortunately, database systems and coding and whatnot tend to make my brain hurt - I can think that logically and find it satisfying on occasion, but most of the time I prefer thinking about things that're a bit more open-ended. =) Might have to mention it to Brian, though...

[jamesd.livejournal.com]

Well, if you want open-ended, religion and faith of all sorts definitely meet your specification. :)

[roseneko.livejournal.com]

Yeah, well, I've given rather a lot of thought to the various forms of religion and faith that I and members of my family have followed, and have come to some interesting conclusions. The major one being, they're not really for me - I'm just too lazy to put in the kind of effort that religion requires. =D

[jamesd.livejournal.com]

You could always hand them your family tree and let the Mormons take care of your religious obligations after you're dead. :)