Mostly Harmful: Mansplaining Astrology
Adam Grant and the Illusion of Reason
Welcome & Welcome Back, Witches!
I had a really fun post planned for today — and mostly written — about Pluto, astro-generations, and the founding fathers — which got promptly derailed when organizational psychologist and bestselling Adam Grant came hard for astrology, seemingly out of nowhere, over the weekend.
Generally, I enjoy Grant’s quippy takes, and I often agree with him, especially when it comes to work and management in the modern era. He’s usually a combination of direct and insightful I find invigorating, even when I don’t necessarily to agree with his stance.
So, I was taken aback when he careened hard out of his lane of expertise into a space he seems to only have the most rudimentary understanding of to offer a take no one really needed.
And that takes us to today’s post. In place of my typical Astro-reflection, I find myself called to explore this callous and careless hot take. Not because I think he’d ever see it, but because his words reflect a harmfully condescending stance that’s too easily bandied about to shame and silence people who find real value, meaning, and friendship in astrology — usually (though not always) women.
What am I waiting for? Let’s get to it.
A Silly Girl with a Flower
Grant’s core argument, and why he claims to have written the post, goes something like this:
Astrology is scientifically meaningless, but because it’s gaining popularity and prevalence, the impacts are not as harmless as we might think. Belief in astrology, he suggests, fosters ignorance and prejudice. We need to ‘quit’ our collective astrology habit, he posits, for the good of everyone.
To show that astrology is meaningless, he showcases a study based in China revealing no correlation between sun sign and self-reported personality traits. He also notes that horoscopes rely on well-known tactics used by mediums and magicians to offer enough detail to be specific, while also being general enough to be “right.”
And finally, he makes the case that zodiac signs are stereotypes that are causing real harm in the form of discrimination, citing the same study out of China suggesting that people who were identified as Virgos were less likely to get a particular job than, say, a Libra. The same study also found that parents invested less in the education of children born outside of “lucky” signs.
It’s all pretty damning, according to Grant, who is pretty sure at this point he’s made his case that I and everyone else who has ever looked at a star chart should just pack it in and change our ways, as if we were smokers being shown the health dangers of tobacco.
I NEVER KNEW! I SEE THE ERRORS OF MY WAYS, ADAM. PLEASE FORGIVE ME.
Lol, jk. Let’s look at the entire point he missed in his own piece.
A Silly Boy with a Horse and a Stick
Let’s start with the obvious issue: Grant has only the most basic idea of what “astrology” is.
In an everyday context that would be totally fine and his prerogative…until he insults, derides, and dismisses the practice wholesale and anyone associated with it. People who “believe” in astrology are prejudiced, he argues, lack critical-thinking skills, and just want to feel special. They’re drawn to flawed ideas and conspiracy theories. They’re using astrology to fill the hole where religion, the “opiate of the masses,” once went.
Yikes, for a guy so worried about discrimination, he sure did a bunch of it in this piece.
Beyond being insulting and reductive, this approach is filled with assumptions that throw off his data and analysis. The study he cites on personality, for example, is based entirely on sun signs, which most professional astrologers would agree is a limited hypothesis at best.
He also misuses the term ‘sister signs,’ and uses Eastern and Western astrology interchangeably, as if they are one shared set of beliefs. Which again, wouldn’t be a problem except that these all show a basic misunderstanding of the very thing he’s looking to test and provide interpretation on.
Maybe my standards are just high, but I think even in pop psychology it might be harmful not to have a basic understanding of something before writing it off completely and generalizing others unless they do the same.
Laughing to Keep from Weeping
Data aside, Grant’s heroic mission to “rescue” us from astrology with the Truth™ is inherently flawed. There is no one truth about astrology because “astrology” isn’t one thing and “believing in astrology” looks wildly different depending on who is believing it.
For me, it’s a philosophy that we can learn things about the small patterns of our lives by observing big patterns of the universe. With my friends, astrology offers a frictionless way to connect socially as our lives get increasingly complex. With my clients, it’s a reflecting pool, to open up themes that might not occur to them in day-to-day life.
And that’s just what it looks like in my life. Just one person’s experience of it. There’s a kaleidoscope of experiences out there that won’t fit into a basic personality test.
When it comes down to it, there isn’t an astrology thesis to be tested. It’s an experience to be lived.
Change the Stars
Astrology is far from a perfect space, raising ethical questions in practice and attracting its fair share of scammers. But the challenges surrounding astrology aren’t rooted in the scientific validity of horoscopes.
No, they are connected to the nature of humans. With humanity’s need to classify and create hierarchy. They are the same core issue as racism, sexism, ableism. Idealization — creating one ideal for everyone to try to live up to — creates this issue, not astrology.
And that challenge of human nature isn’t going away any time soon. In many respects, that challenge is constantly threatening to break down our collective door.
But with my astrology practice, I can be more aware of it, more empathetic to those impacted by it, and more able to cope with the impacts of it myself. I can create my own empowerment, and help others do the same. With my birth chart in hand, I can write a different story than the one that patriarchy and capitalism have written for me.
No, Astrology isn’t perfect. But then again, neither am I. Maybe that’s what I like about it so much.
And That’s All She Wrote!
She, of course, being me. I hope you enjoyed the read — and didn’t mind the change of course this week. Mercury is Aries this week, and I just felt called to speak up.
Reply to this email or leave a comment to let me know what you thought and how this landed with you. I love to hear your stories, plus every interaction really helps the newsletter’s visibility. 💜💜💜
See you all next Tuesday for more some actual planetary fun and who knows what else!
omg i'm about to write my own takedown on how men need proof to mansplain away magic and came across this post on google. THANK YOU!!! linking it in my essay this week. just from reading this one piece, i have a feeling we might have a lot in common.... sharing with my community!
"with my astrology practice, I can be more aware of it, more empathetic to those impacted by it, and more able to cope with the impacts of it myself. I can create my own empowerment, and help others do the same. With my birth chart in hand, I can write a different story than the one that patriarchy and capitalism have written for me." SO POWERFUL!!!!