Explaining Astrology to a Skeptic

Video Description

An interview between astrologer Chris Brennan and science journalist Abi Millar, where Abi asks some questions about astrology from the perspective of someone who is skeptical but open-minded about the subject. Abi is in the process of writing a book titled The Spirituality Gap, which will explore a range of spiritual practices and examine how people make sense of life in the modern world, and how this can be understood within the context of a scientific mindset. As a science reporter, Abi was approaching the subject of astrology from more of a skeptical perspective, but said that she hoped to maintain a balance between skepticism and open-mindedness. She asked to interview me for a chapter in the book that is going to be on astrology, and I agreed under the condition that I could record and release the discussion as an episode of the podcast. I thought this would be a good opportunity to record an episode talking with someone who is skeptical but curious about astrology, and demonstrate how I would personally answer some of the questions about astrology that naturally come up in that context. In some ways it is a continuation of a similar approach that I took in episode 288, which was titled Explaining Astrology to Non-Astrologers, and if you enjoy this episode then I’d recommend checking that one out as well: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KG3ETNYNTXs This is episode 383 of The Astrology Podcast: https://theastrologypodcast.com/2023/01/22/explaining-astrology-to-a-skeptic/ Timestamps: 00:00:00 Intro 00:01:46 Abbi Millar's book 00:02:36 How Chris discovered astrology 00:05:10 Cosmology that underlies astrology 00:07:18 Is astrology a science? 00:09:10 Astronomy and astrology 00:12:00 Why astrology fell out of favor 00:19:33 Causal mechanism of astrology 00:22:11 Does Chris believe astrology works? 00:24:04 Confirmation bias 00:30:37 Astrological studies 00:35:19 The focus of Chris' work 00:36:22 Is astrology predictive? 00:46:18 Predictions for the next few years 00:52:23 Fate and free will 00:56:02 Value of studying historical basis of astrology 01:03:00 How astronomical discoveries have impacted astrology 01:05:08 The 13th zodiac sign 01:10:45 Rise in popularity of astrology 01:19:52 Decline in skepticism 01:27:30 Is astrology a spiritual practice 01:30:26 Biggest misconceptions about astrology 01:36:48 Richard Tarnas 01:38:11 Difficulties in going public with one's interest in astrology 01:43:43 Patrons and sponsors