On astrology.

The New York Times recently had an article about a museum exhibit about the history of astrology that had this interesting comparison:

Alexander Boxer, the author of “A Scheme of Heaven,” about the history and science of astrology, argues that horoscopes during antiquity have more in common with modern algorithms than with the esoteric predictions of many contemporary horoscope writers.

“It was a very technological and math-heavy field,” Boxer said in an interview. He compared people’s views of ancient astrology to our modern relationship with artificial intelligence, which he said… also “offers advice via opaque data-driven algorithms that you, the end user, are expected to trust but not to understand.”

Just a very, very incisive comparison.

Additionally, when I sent that article to my one (Mormon) colleague who I do a summer book-club with, he texted back:

Thanks for the article. Quote: “According to Allied Market Research, a consulting firm, spending on astrology-related products and services is projected to increase from $12.8 billion in 2021 to $22.8 billion in 2031.”

How do we get in on that?

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