Faith and Science
Saturn influences... how does it influence? How? With Mass? With sunlight reflected from it? Energy? Energy can always be measured. Can anyone observe the energy of Saturn, Mars and etc.? Don’t you have any influence on your life?
The fact is that since ancient times people have wanted to know the future, and for this they need a map - a picture of the world in order to predict the future. Therefore, when people were still stupid, in order to explain the world order to themselves, they needed prophets, priests, oracles, dream interpreters, astrologers, numerologists, etc., of whom there was never a shortage. At all times, predicting the future has been a very profitable business.
Over time, when people grew wiser and were no longer satisfied with the predictions of the shamans about the future, they began to independently seek answers to their questions about how the world works. This is how science was born.
The fundamental difference between these two things is that believes are not questioned by their bearers, but science, in its search for better theories, always refutes itself. When it comes to the methodology of scientific thinking, as a rule, Karl Popper’s definition of the criterion of falsifiability is given, according to which “a theory is scientific if there is a methodological possibility of its refutation by performing an experiment, even if such an experiment has not yet been performed.” Simply put, according to Popper, scientific thinking is the process of eliminating intellectual errors, a kind of Darwinian “natural selection” of ideas - the evolution of scientific thought. When he spoke of the growth of knowledge, he did not mean the accumulation of confirmatory observations, but the continuous refutation of scientific theories by various experiments, and their replacement by the best, most satisfactory theories.
It would seem, well, people believe and believe, so why do you care? The fact is that in this world, and especially in human populations, everything is interconnected and influences each other, and stupidity is especially contagious; this is also called herd mentality. Humans are problem-creating creatures. All the stupid things in the world were done with a fiery heart, an empty head and an intelligent expression on the face.
Convinced people are in a certain intellectual “cocoon” of their knowledge/ideas about the world order - “forces” that, in their opinion, control fate, the way the world works. Their ability to understand the world, and therefore forecast and plan, is limited by the intellectual tools of the area of their beliefs. The boundaries of beliefs reliably protect minds from the growth of new knowledge. Any inaccuracies in forecasts are easily attributed to chance, and random coincidences are perceived as unconditional confirmation of the laws of the “teachings”.
Unlike believes, science has predictive power. This is why it was invented, in order to most accurately predict the future. If you know the weight of the stone, the angle and force of the throw, then with a high probability you can calculate where the stone will fall. If you have a fever and take aspirin, your body temperature is likely to return to normal. If you dial someone's phone number, there is a high probability that someone's phone will ring. This is how science works.
Personal finance is an interdisciplinary field of knowledge about the effective construction of the desired future, which is based on the theories of economics, corporate finance, social psychology, anthropology, management, etc. In truth, social sciences are poor at predicting the future, and the expected results are extended in time and in many ways depend on the behavior of many economic agents. But, in conditions of great uncertainty with many unknowns, in designing the future, this is much better than intuition or “common sense”.
Manage your life and personal finances wisely.
Knowledge is power!