轉述 carl sagan 關於“占星術”

carl sagan on astrology

“如果我們的生活受到天空中一組交通信號的控制，努力去改變生活還有什麽意義呢？”

“[占星的結論]有意識地被設計得如此含糊，以至於它們可以適用於任何人。”

“占星術的結論可以通過雙胞胎的生活來測試。有許多這樣的真實案例：雙胞胎之一在兒童時期被殺，比如騎馬事故或被閃電擊中，而另一個則得享晚年。假設發生在我身上。我的雙胞胎和我本來就是出生在完全相同的地方，並且在幾分鐘之內，我們出生的時候就會出現同樣的行星。如果占星術是有效的，我們怎麼會有如此截然不同的命運呢？“

“占星家們不能夠達成一個一致意見。”

“在我出生的那一刻，火星的升起怎麼會至今都影響我？我出生在一個封閉的房間裡。來自火星的光線無法進入。火星對我影響的唯一影響是它的引力。但產科醫生的引力遠大於火星的引力影響。火星的質量要大得多，但是產科醫生離得更近。“

“與宇宙聯繫的願望反映了一個深刻的現實。我們之間的聯繫不是以偽科學所承諾的微不足道的方式，而是以最深刻的方式。我們的小星球受到恆星的影響。太陽溫暖了我們。它驅動著天氣。它維持著所有生物。四十億年前，它帶來了地球上的生命。“

“If our lives are controlled by a set of traffic signals in the sky, why try to change anything?”

“[Horoscopes] are consciously designed to be so vague that they could apply to anybody.”

“Astrology can be tested by the lives of twins. There are many real cases like this: one twin is killed in childhood in, say, a riding accident or struck by lightning, while the other one lives to a prosperous old age. Supposed that had happened to me. My twin and I would have been born in exactly the same place and within minutes of each other, exactly the same planets would be rising at our births. If astrology were valid, how would we have such profoundly different fates?”

“Astrologers cannot even agree among themselves what a given horoscope means.”

“How could the rising of Mars at the moment of my birth affect me, then or now? I was born in a closed room. Light from Mars couldn’t get in. The only influence of Mars which could affect me was its gravity. But the gravitational pull of the obstetrician was much larger than the gravitational influence of Mars. Mars is a lot more massive, but the obstetrician was much closer.”

“The desire to be connected with the Cosmos reflects a profound reality. We are connected, not in the trivial ways that pseudosciences promise, but in the deepest ways. Our little planet is under the influence of a star. The sun warms us. It drives the weather. It sustains all living things. Four billion years ago, it brought forth life on Earth.”