Humans are programmed in such a way that they find meaning in random situations – even when there is none.
As 2025 has kicked into full swing, I cannot help but notice how many of us are turning to horoscopes for answers to life’s curiosities. A recent daily horoscope told me that Virgos are going to go through a rough patch and Geminis will bear financial fortune. The predictions are always imprecise and applicable to almost everyone. Yet, every time I meet a Virgo, I now ask them how their life is going. Any ‘rough patches’ lately?
Something about the idea of cosmic guidance feels almost soothing. There is a heavy appeal in believing that maybe, the universe does have your back after all. Despite the ambiguity of these statements, why do they resonate with so many people? What makes us place faith in these ideas that have no proof to back them up?
As it turns out, our brains are just wired to find meaning in the stars, even if that means logic has to take a backseat.
Growing up, I was always surrounded by conversations about the day’s horoscopes. A magazine article would tell me how my day as a Capricorn should pan out: “Today is the day to make necessary financial adjustments to your life.” Despite their impersonal nature, people – including myself – would find some sort of meaning in them. Even if what the article said the stars had in store for me was just a random string of words, I would feel as if it was written for me. It has always made me curious about why we act this way.
Astrology is a pseudoscience. Its appeal continues to thrive solely due to the veil of mysticism surrounding it. While it lacks any empirical validity, its persisting popularity can be attributed to its transcendental nature, despite scientific advancements. We know the stars don’t have any definitive control over our lives, yet we have a tendency to return to them. Why is that?
The answer can be found in the confines of the psychology of belief. The stars always follow a pattern. We are inherently pattern-spotting creatures. Ergo, we pay attention to their randomness and attempt to form a pattern. This is explained by a psychological concept called Apophenia – the inclination to identify meaningful patterns between otherwise unrelated things. It is this same instinct that tricks us into basically making horoscopes come true.
For instance, if your daily horoscope read that you are going to find yourself in a tricky situation at work that day, your brain will automatically try and find situations that fit that narrative, making you believe that the prediction was accurate. If your boss is uncommonly silent that day, that is suddenly an indication that you will soon face a tough situation.
There is another concept that offers an explanation for our behaviour. Known as the Barnum Effect, this cognitive bias causes people to believe that statements with a vague nature are relevant to them personally. If you’re eating alphabet cereal and the letters spell out Y-E-S, you take it as an approval to do something you have been doubtful about.
The horoscope you read is now a lens you use to view the rest of your day, despite the fact that you could have been in the same situation literally any other day.
What makes it more interesting is that our brains not only identify these patterns for us, but they also reinforce them. This is explained by another phenomenon in psychology called confirmation bias. These are propensities to focus on evidence that confirms facts we already know and disregard any contradictory evidence. So if your horoscope says your day at work will be tough, a missed deadline or a difficult conversation is enough to make you feel that ‘the stars just aren’t aligned for you today.’ Alternatively, if your day goes perfectly fine, we forget ever reading the horoscope in the first place. One might read it out of curiosity again the next day, but it will not feel as impactful anymore. Confirmation biases filter out any inconsistencies, letting us concentrate on moments that align with our horoscope and discard all else.
It is a ceaseless cycle; the more we believe in the accuracy of horoscopes, the more likely we are to revisit them.
I believe the reason we keep coming back to cosmic predictions is because they are a way for us to feel less alone. They provide a sense of connection, even if that connection is intangible. Our belief in the power of astrology is irrelevant for the most part. What really matters is the comfort it offers. So maybe the whole point of astrology is not to predict your future, but to extend a little promise in a world that is out of our power. Our brains are, at the end, just trying to form an illusion of control. And honestly, isn't that all we really need?
1 How astrology escaped the pull of Science. Office for Science and Society. (2021, November 9). https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/pseudoscience/how-astrology-escaped-pull-science
2 Rose, Dr. H. (2022, May 12). The dangers of apophenia: Not everything happens for a reason. Ness Labs https://nesslabs.com/apophenia
3 Barnum effect. The Decision Lab. https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/barnum-effect
4 Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (2024, December 17). Confirmation bias. Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/confirmation-bias
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