RE: Context over predictive value

Well, that is the question; I'm good friends with an astrologer and she would definitely say there's an element of psychology to it, but astrology is also based on a worldview where astronomy and psychology are linked--so in that view there's no essential difference.

A basic fact of human psychology is that we use stories to make sense of the world--it's where we get our context from. In that sense, science or economics are as much stories as they are theories. The difference is that astrology is a story that embeds people within a larger universe--it gives them a sense of place in the world and tells them what themes will be present in their lives. It's not meant to be understood literally, but symbolically.

The tragic fact is that many people, and unfortunately plenty of astrologers, like to promote a literal interpretation... but then, so do statistical studies seeking to find direct links between material events and symbolic reality. They do overlap, but not in a linear fashion, so conventional science will always misunderstand astrology, even while people will continue to crave symbolic context.