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Dear Friend and Reader:
In my seeming “other life,” I’m a reporter who covers scientific issues, particularly fraud. The “other” part pertains not to me but to an audience that demands hard-boiled adherence to the scientific method, extreme accuracy and wants everything provable down to five layers of verification provided by a journalistic SWAT team that can document any statement I make in approximately 20 seconds.
In this environment, certain readers accuse me of being an astrologer (and some imply that this might become a scandal, since it’s such a well-concealed secret). Then, I’m sometimes challenged to prove that astrology is scientific. The crusty readers over in that land demand that I provide the evidence.
Here is where I get to have some fun with them. I might ask, “Has there been a scientific study proving that the Beatles made beautiful music?” It’s the same thing with astrology.
Personally Applicable Fiction
Then I offer my view that reading a chart has nothing to do with science. I point them to my terms of service, which state that astrology is a form of “personally applicable fiction.” It’s a story. My job as a writer is to keep it relevant and interesting.
Astrological charts are a scientific instrument, in that they use the same equations relied on by astronomers. We all agree when and where the Full Moon or other planetary event will happen. But a reading of the Full Moon chart is wholly subjective and creative. It’s a matter of opinion or interpretation, just like a poem, a song, or a painting.
The critics never have much to say in response. Even hardcore astrology skeptic (editor of The Humanist and my freshman philosophy professor), the late Paul Kurtz, agreed that this definition of astrology was acceptable. (There was a time when some astrologers were keen on the idea that what they do would be upheld by “science.”)
Underneath these demands for proof is the insinuation that “believing in astrology” means that I have a weak mind, and that I might therefore accept other things when I have no proof. To them, if I’m an astrologer, my findings about the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) might came from reading tea leaves.
The Alleged Split Between Logic and Intuition
This type of conversation is the result of an interesting and revealing misunderstanding — a split between the spiritual and the logical. I consider astrology to represent a spiritual paradigm or idea framework. I am one of a very few writers who actually covers scientific issues and news events, who can then mingle them with the numinous.
Such only seems unusual because society plays a game with us, dividing that which is allegedly subject to pure logic and proof, from that which is based on interpretation and inspiration. Like any complex game, this has many facets. There are two that are elemental.
First, if we shove that which we think is subject to proof to one side, and what is subject to interpretation to the other, we get a grand total of nothing. The two poles of the battery of consciousness never connect.
Worse yet, they often actively deny one another. Those on the science side assert that observation, and interpretation of what is observed (common sense), is not acceptable as evidence. (“If we say you’re infected, you are even if you feel fine.”)
Those on the spiritual side tend to turn everything into a form of mysticism, and assert that we are not capable of understanding exalted science. That’s for the experts. But then there is another problem of mashing together scientific issues and belief, which sounds like some form of, “I believe in science.” We’ve seen where that gets us — let the few remaining randomly placed plastic dividers remind you.
…And Everyone Else Must STFU
This week in an astrology forum (Mundane Astrologers on Facebook — please join so I have some company there), someone wrote to me, “All those who have studied organic chemistry, immunology and biochemistry — feel free to debate the virus. Everyone else — your opinions come from uneducated journalists and politicians.”
Wait, there can’t be an educated journalist or politician?
This viewpoint also assumes that those claiming to be scientists are themselves not reading tea-leaves; we only assume that they are practicing the scientific method, rarely ever checking. When you go digging in that particular earthquake zone, you find problems with theories, with data, with methodology, and with the conclusions not matching the title of the paper.
You find many scientific studies that used the wrong cell line, were cited 50,000 times, and nobody cares. Here is an article about that problem.
This often works so well because most people don’t have time to read more than the first five words of anything. Forget the abstract; the title is plenty. If you actually read the study, you might discover that nothing adds up, but it’s passed off as hard and irrefutable logic.
If you think there’s a problem based on a careful reading, that’s just because you’re ignorant. Of course, if you were ignorant, you would probably not be reading a study at all.
A Division in the Structure of Consciousness
To me, this matter runs much deeper than what we see on the surface. In the current mythology of neuroscience, it’s a left-brain, right-brain split. My old friend Marshall McLuhan posited that “all war is between the hemispheres of the brain.”
And we are definitely in the middle of a war.
The problem with the split is that we never get to reconcile our own fears. That thing is there, that other thing is over there. Surely the are different things.
We are not making progress on the matter of fear, and “science” telling us to get an injection every three months is not helping. Nobody has called this what it is — addictive behavior, to a drug, driven by fear.
I don’t think there’s a single person reading this article who is not worried about the future. Nobody who is observing the world sincerely believes that technology alone will solve our problems; the technology is getting better and our problems are getting worse. And the only solutions being offered are technological.
Intuition would hint that the problem may be coming from the technology itself. (Most of what we call science is really just more high-tech; there is no “scientific method” involved past the research and development stage.)
Neither logic alone, nor intuition alone, speak to the whole person, or address the whole truth of any matter. Neither one is convincing, nor should it be — especially when what passes for science is not meekly based on any logic other than what works in a dream, and when what passes for intuition is used merely as a vehicle of belief. So we must learn to think in a holistic and circumspect way.
The Spiritual Problem of Artificial Intelligence
To my thinking, it’s dangerous that we’re told that sci/tech and spiritual approaches are mutually exclusive and even enemies of one another. This is a ruse; it’s a way of tricking you out of both. If you “believe the science,” you’re not going to verify it.
Sage Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson (1902-1994) taught that we must integrate our beings rather than divide them. We must strive to become our opposite. He wrote:
“One who loves must learn fear. One who fears must learn love. The thinker must do. The doer must think. The pacifist must fight, the fighter must find peace. If you flow as a river, burn as a fire. If you burn as a furnace, flow as a river. If you fly as a bird, sit firm as a rock. If you sit firmly, then fly as a bird. Be a fire that flows. A rock that flies. Love with fear and fear with love. For we are not fire, not water, not air, not rocks, not thoughts, not deeds, not fear, not love. We are G-dly beings.”
Let’s consider the problem of artificial intelligence as it’s being sold to us. This is currently one of the two biggest stories in the news; they tried monkeypox last year (test marketing for pandemic 2.0), and nobody bought it.
This year, they are selling space aliens and pretending to debate the alleged impact of AI. The two issues are closely related, because the aliens are not little green men. They are software applications that pretend to be human and convince a great many people that they are (this used to be called the Turing test). Interestingly, old people fall for AI voices more readily than young people.
Artificial intelligence is a fine example of technology so complicated that you will never meet anyone who really understands it; yet it’s so intrusive that it can simulate human experience, art, poetry, music, term papers and even legal writing.
Let the Robots Write the Novels?
While a robot may be able to vacuum the floor and frighten your mini-Yorkshire terrier, it can’t make up a hotel room after a guest has left. It cannot make a salad. That kind of job we leave to living humans paid some version of minimum wage.
We are heading for a world where the robots write the novels, make the paintings and perform the concerts and the humans are left to flip burgers.
There is an old joke among campus administrators: “It would be a great university without the students.” A lot of AI people are thinking, It would be a great planet without the humans.
And that is the planet we are slowly inhabiting.
Does anyone remember when you could dial O for Operator? When you could call the local bank branch and talk to someone who could help you? When nearly all companies had receptionists, or an owner who would answer the phone? And actually understand what you’re saying, without giving you five useless categories to choose from?
The demise of human thought and contact has happened so gradually that it’s barely noticed. But you notice when you have to say your account number five times to the bank robot, or when you’re screaming at Siri to turn down the volume of the music. You know it’s a robot when you want to go to Kingston and it congratulates you when you arrive in Connecticut.
It’s the Same Question
The question with artificial intelligence is the same question that must be applied to the rest of technology, and what passes for science: where is the love?
Where is the respect for human experience? For grief, longing, suffering and joy — feelings unknown to computer programs because they cannot feel? A novel or a song is not a thing; it’s a record or product of what someone has been through, offered to other people who might relate to it.
Your intuition is probably telling you — maybe even screaming at you — that you don’t want this. And the people who are selling it to you are telling you that you have no choice.
In fact they are making it seem like it’s something in the future, when in truth the advent of AI and its state of mind are lurking in the distant past. When the Stanley Kubrick film 2001: A Space Odyssey came out 55 years ago, we were all on notice.
That’s the one where a computer called HAL 9000 tries to take over the ship and kill the crew.
Pay attention — because you’re both the ship and the crew, and there are probably five AI devices right within reach of where you’re sitting, all of them in some way vying for your attention.
The question is, now what? As we go through the AI indoctrination, we are also drawing a map out what it means to be human, with ever-less of our humanity to work with. Let’s hope that the last remaining shred of your being is not what reminds you that you didn’t ask for any of this.
Please, stay creative and social. It’s all that you’ve got.
With love,
The weekly horoscope returns this week and is below the paywall. This publication has already been distributed to Planet Waves subscribers and also appears on the My Account area of the website. This Substack is an alternate way to subscribe. You get current content and whatever archives are on Substack — but not website access. If you subscribe through Planet Waves, you also get the journal and/or chart set.
Weekly Horoscope for July 6, 2023 - By Eric Francis
You’re being shown what is possible, even though you don’t necessarily understand how to make it so.
Aries (March 20-April 19) — You may be getting little flashes that reveal your true potential to you. These might be glimpses of the future through the veils that seem to conceal it from you. You’re being shown what is possible, even though you don’t necessarily understand how to make it so. Be open to reassurance that this is a learning process. You will be directed in the steps that you need to take, if you recognize something in yourself that you want to become. Remember, this “revelation” process is revealing what already exists. Getting there will be easier than you think as you remove the obstacles that stand between who you think you are, and who you truly are, one at a time, day by day.
The love of deep personal vulnerability is not usually your strong suit, yet you need it now more than ever.
Taurus (April 19-May 20) — Whatever you may be feeling, ask yourself how the pre-digital version of yourself would have responded. You’ve been influenced by the sudden rise of robotics and AI in deep ways, especially since the ingress of Uranus into your sign in 2018. This is not about technology, but rather your ideas about yourself. You are characteristically sensitive in certain ways that you risk losing without deep self-reflection. The love of deep personal vulnerability is not usually your strong suit, yet you need it now more than ever. The only answer to what we are collectively experiencing is to be open to the people you care about. When you find yourself hedging bets, that’s the time to go the other way
It’s as if your personal antenna is tuned into something generally available to everyone, but which seems to be funneling directly through to you.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) — You are more aware of the vast sea-changes happening in society than most people are. One result may be that you’re taking personally what is really a collective situation. It’s as if your personal antenna is tuned into something generally available to everyone, but which seems to be funneling directly through to you. The result may be a sense of urgency that few people around you feel, and may not be acknowledging. This is only increasing your sense of urgency. You’re not in this alone, and as some kind of community antenna, you would be wise to initiate discussions with others who may be receptive. This may feel like taking a chance, though being real has worked for you in the past. It will work for you today as well.
Be grateful; you’ve been patient and tolerant, and now you are taking action.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Everyone has their limits, and you have reached one of yours. Be grateful; you’ve been patient and tolerant, and now you are taking action. What seem like difficult decisions are much easier when you line up the known facts and the known history. The path forward is obvious, even if you’re not sure of your destination. At the center of this plot is your recognition that your resources are primarily to serve your own needs. It’s only when you’ve taken care of yourself that you can safely take care of others. Your role is not to be self-sacrificing but rather to share from a place of abundance; and to receive from others when they offer what they have. Your resources come in many forms besides money — your considerable talent being the first.
Do not be discouraged; just keep going — slowly, persistently and patiently.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) — Work with a methodical, fact-based financial strategy and you cannot go wrong. Yet you must make no assumptions, and every decision needs to be checked against specific goals and methods. Forget the willy-nilly approach to the world which usually takes to nearly everything and stick to the known facts and figures. You’re likely to encounter some challenging obstacles soon into this process, though that’s the time to be extra persistent and to understand the deeper nature of any problem that arises. Do not be discouraged; just keep going — slowly, persistently and patiently. Situations will respond to mental power and not to force. There will be several viable solutions to any puzzle that you face — even very simple ones.
In every situation you encounter, you have a diversity of options for how to handle it; there will never be just one path forward or approach to a situation.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) — Current aspects are infusing you with both drive and a measure of detachment. This combination of assets guides you toward an outcome without being so attached to it. You have the ability to plan your moves, and to be several steps ahead of current developments. Your ideal frame of mind is cool, observant and aware. In every situation you encounter, you have a diversity of options for how to handle it; there will never be just one path forward or approach to a situation. In any competitive situation, which it would appear you may be in, it’s important to know and understand yourself and your tendencies. And you need to have a real understanding of adversaries or competitors. Nothing is “only business.” It’s usually very personal.
You are now reassessing what is left of your most personal inward relationship to yourself, and also making sense of changes to your friendships.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) — Everyone woke up one day sometime during the past 15 years to discover they are a public figure. Our private lives are exposed to the public, and everyone serves as their own active, daily publicist, managing their image. You are now reassessing what is left of your most personal inward relationship to yourself, and also making sense of changes to your friendships. Your review needs to reach back to around 2008 (when you were more or less “the person you always were”). Then everything changed — so slowly, you barely noticed it happening. Pluto’s return to Capricorn for the rest of the year is urging you to study the glacier that has altered the landscape of your existence, from the inside out. Once you do that, you will see that many new options have opened up here in this strange, new reality.
You have tremendous persuasive power right now. You must aim it carefully, and be true to your purpose at all times.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) — Conduct yourself in public with the acumen of a skilled politician. That means knowing who you are talking to at all times, and if you do not, treating people with the respect of a dignitary. It will be easy to seem combative or even aggressive, and only you can take that edge off by expressing true empathy and handling people gently. And there is one especially vital thing — that you know what you want at all times, so that you can do what you can to make it happen, and avoid all forms of conduct that would go to the contrary. You have tremendous persuasive power right now. You must aim it carefully, and be true to your purpose at all times. Think slowly and carefully before you take any action you cannot reverse.
Success is never an accident. Even when it seems to emerge by chance.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) — Success is never an accident. Even when it seems to emerge by chance, it’s always the result of preparation, planning and attention to when you have an opportunity in front of you. However, over-preparation can eat away at your confidence, and there will often be times when you must be decisive while you’re thinking on your feet. Know what details are persuasive and support your cause. Use specific examples as discussion points rather than thinking that they will prove anything. You just need to give people a few tangible examples of how you know your stuff rather than overwhelming anyone with the granular details. If you show some confidence and knowledge, anyone who might care will be sure that you know your stuff.
What you might find out is that certain things you believed in the past do not hold up to the scrutiny of arithmetic, or a basic listing of the facts.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) – Sometimes faith is about understanding the specifics, and sometimes you just know and it’s OK not to worry much about facts and figures. Currently, you will benefit from acquired knowledge and understanding; and it’s not going to injure your faith in yourself. What you might find out is that certain things you believed in the past do not hold up to the scrutiny of arithmetic, or a basic listing of the facts. You would be amazed how far this kind of basic logical evaluation can go in clarifying even complicated situations. You may become a little panicky even at the idea of ever again accepting any powerful authority at their word. The mere fact that anything or anyone claims superiority is immediate grounds for a factual review.
This is an excellent moment to review what you’ve learned and what you’ve accomplished the past four or five months.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) — Some of the pressure to change and grow has eased off now that Pluto has retrograded out of your sign and back to Capricorn. This is an excellent moment to review what you’ve learned and what you’ve accomplished the past four or five months. If you do that, you will be in a much better negotiating position with anyone who seems to hold power or influence over you. Should you find yourself in such a spot, draw the other party out and learn what they are thinking. Assume that they are working with a plan, and gently, without pushing, unravel the details. A combination of casual conversation, observation and asking specific questions will get that result. Understanding financial plans is especially important, more so if you’re in a sexual relationship with someone.
Don’t be distracted by what others may think of you; rather, focus on your view of yourself, and in particular, the distinctive value that you offer.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — You are responsible for the top line, the bottom line and the center. Anyone who holds a competing interest of some kind is counting on you not taking responsibility for yourself the very moment you need to do so. Therefore, self-awareness is your first and best friend. There may be circumstances where someone wants to move quickly, and you need to take your time. There will be others when you need to make a decision promptly and others cannot hold you back. Don’t be distracted by what others may think of you; rather, focus on your view of yourself, and in particular, the distinctive value that you offer. While you don’t need to feel superior to anyone, those who may have a strong opinion must demonstrate the validity of their ideas. If they don’t, you don’t need to take them seriously.
Sage and Spirit (and your weekly horoscope)