Why do people not believe in magic and astrology?

Answer 1

I read my horoscope for years and never had one work unless it was so vague that it could not fail. I also studied several kinds of magic, It doesn't work. Show me something that will work, and I will believe in it.

Answer 2

Magic is simply the art of illusion. Most people understand that.
Some people believe in some sort of mystic magic and there is not one shred of an indicator that this exists let alone any evidence. Hence they do not believe in it.

Astrology makes all sorts of claims but it is a relatively new phenomina (only a few thousand years at best.). Ordinary people find it easy to show how gullible people are about it. For instance TV, Radio and other media seem regularly to show people printed descriptions of what their star sign says about them. When the persons has finished saying how accurate it is they are then told that in fact it is taken from an opposite star sign to theirs.

Just consider that it uses stars as influences. These are so far away it has taken millions of years for their light to reach us and they are in fact millions if not billions of miles away from where they may appear to be. Again there is not one single indicator showing a link let alone a shred of scientific proof. To the contrary science seems able to prove a lot of the claims and supposition to not be true. All the major religions speak agains it and urge their followers to have nothing to do with it.

Astrology at best should be taken like a religion though. Believe if you want to but don't criticise those who choose not to.

It is not for non believers in magic and astrology to prove they are right as they are simply non believers. The believers in magic and astrology are the ones putting it forward and thus the ones who should be showing the proof and justifying their convictions.

Answer 3

Because they're very hard to prove and the proof they can provide is often in "feelings" or is coincidental.
Until Astrology stops dropping predictions that are so vague they can be fulfilled by pretty much anything you do, no one that wants significant evidence will be swayed.
Until someone demonstrates magic by slinging around fireballs while flying and summoning demons, instead of putting up invisible wards to stop "bad spirirts" from entering your house, no one's really going to believe.
Blame Science and the rennaisance for people wanting reliable, measurable, repeatable evidence for things for the slow death of magic and astronomy.

Answer 4

the mark of a real science is that it improves incrementally over time.

if one look at the science of medicine for example: many patients with syndromes which would have proved fatal in the ancient world - or even a hundred years ago - are now easily curable (when was the last time you heard of someone die of measles - a major killer as recently as the 1920s).

we know medicine is a science - it gets better.

the astrologers now are no more and no less successful than astrologers were in ancient egypt, babylon, rome, or the middle ages. in fact we currently have no contemporary star-gazer with anything like the reputation of a paracelsus, a nostradamus or a faust.

(though nostradamus' contemporaries were far less impressed with him than folk are now:

falsa damus *** nostra damus, nam fallere nostra est;
*** falsa damus, nil nisi nostradamus.

was a well known gibe in the 1560s)

real science gets better. junk science stays the same (or gets worse).

how many of america's megabuck astrologers saw the 2004 tsunami coming?

Answer 5

well the stars were put there buy GOD and the magic you speek of can only happen if you go thru a evil spirit you who practice may not know it but you let in evil when you use magic you really may not want to harm any one and do good but it will take you over you opened the door.

Answer 6

When the astrological readings are so vague they could apply to anyone, I might as well divine my future by reading the veining in a chunk of Blue Stilton cheese.

Answer 7

Its the stigma surrounding them. No one wants to be the crazy cat lady that lives next door and practices magic.

Answer 8

People would believe that long before they will believe in God.