ID：liujish
Author: Big City
Constellations have become a belief among contemporary young people.
From the lucky color of clothes and eye shadow, the lucky position when eating, deciding the time to go out according to the lucky number, to asking the constellation first when making friends and talking to them, going out must see the "today's luck", predicting test results, and even the big and small choices in life, they entrust their lives to the zodiac signs.
In the eyes of these people, the constellation is a sublime and authoritative guide to life.
▲A simple Weibo by a constellation blogger has more than 30,000 retweets and nearly 20,000 likes.
The reason why constellations are "social artifacts" for young people is mainly to build a set of criteria for identifying "similar kinds".
For example, Aries and Archers are suitable for being diehards, Taurus and Scorpio are easy to look at each other unfavorably, and Cancer and virgins can only be ordinary friends.
Different from the previous generation's "did you eat today", young people's simple and catchy set of tips can not only quickly break embarrassment, find common topics with strangers, but also efficiently screen out damaged friends and rotten peach blossoms, and find "suitable" friends and objects.
▲The so-called "couple matching index" and "dating index" of the zodiac sign are the must-have magic weapon for many marriage websites, horoscope bloggers, and astrologers.
The agitation of stars and capital is the driving force behind the constellation mania.
We all know that celebrities have a strong ability to "bring goods", fans often love the house and Wu, and idols believe whatever they say.
When celebrities are interviewed, they like to use horoscopes to tactfully praise themselves, such as "maybe I'm a Taurus, people are more stable and down-to-earth", and then dump negative news to the zodiac signs, my personality is sometimes impatient, because Aries itself is like this, not my problem.
The constellation has become the "brick" of the star, where it needs to be moved, which also reinforces the illusion of "the constellation is accurate" in the audience's mind.
▲ "Constellation Chess Talk" from iQiyi
Capital has a secret to making quick money: where there is traffic, there is a gold mine.
The national horoscope fever has made the constellation a profiteering "superstitious business", and capital naturally cannot miss it.
Tencent, Sina, iQiyi and other websites specially set up relevant constellation sections and variety shows, providing predictions of fortunes in life, emotions and work, and attracting fans.
Merchants continue to launch waves of "constellation marketing", from a certain haha mineral water, to zodiac masks, zodiac mobile phones, accessories, etc., and strive to get a piece of the pie.
Capital also frantically buys top Weibo bloggers, public accounts and other constellation self-media, preparing to cut leeks.
This large amount of hot money invisibly promotes the barbaric growth of the constellation.
▲A constellation blogger on Weibo was successfully monetized and was acquired by capital, with a valuation of 300 million yuan.
In fact, constellations are a modern superstition.
We who repost horoscopes on Weibo are no different from relatives who share health and health products in the circle of friends.
01
Constellation: Pseudoscience cloaked in astronomy
At the end of the 70s of the 20th century, the wave of reform and opening up was noisy, coupled with our natural worship of foreigners, the "twelve constellations" of the West took advantage of the void and blossomed everywhere on the mainland.
"Zodiac signs", simply put, are to classify people into twelve zodiac signs according to their birthdays and give them different personalities and preferences. The upgraded version also has theories such as the Heavenly Palace Chart, Sun Constellation, Moon Constellation, and Ascendant Constellation.
Anyway, it all means the same thing: the position and changes of the sun, moon, and stars in the sky can determine the character of a person and the fate of his life.
This is similar to the five elements and eight characters of the mainland, when we are born, we are already destined to make a fortune at the age of 40. The difference is that the "constellation" ties our lives to the stars.
Constellations are a kind of foreign superstition, which belongs to cultural invasion.
▲ The popular "water reversal" on the Internet is from the "constellation theory", which means that Mercury's retrograde will lead to bad luck.
Since it is superstition, why do many people think that "the zodiac sign is accurate"?
"Constellation analysis" seems to be a pretentious statement, essentially a vague and general, general description, suitable for almost everyone.
We can start by reading the following text:
1. You need the recognition and liking of others, and a casual compliment from others can make you happy for a long time.
2. You have huge untapped potential in your body. With hard work, you will make greater progress.
3. You respect your inner thoughts, but you can't break free from your external environment.
4. You have some weaknesses in your personality, but generally you can take advantage of your strengths and avoid your weaknesses.
5. You are sometimes cheerful and social, sometimes quiet and happy to be alone.
6. You crave security.
......
After reading the above words, do you resonate very much?
In fact, these are the general psychology of human beings, and everyone has a little more or less:
Who doesn't want to be appreciated by others?
Who doesn't think they have a lot of potential in them?
What office worker doesn't want to be himself and break free from the shackles of wages?
Who has no flaws in character?
......
This is called the "Banum effect" in psychology: we like to describe it in vague and broad terms.
For example, Taurus generally writes "a steady and willing industrialist, a person worth relying on", although the description is very empty, but the "Taurus" still think that it is accurate, they are such a person.
▲ Human beings have a strong "brain supplement" ability.
In addition, people's brains will cut themselves, always impressed by the "accurate content", and forget the inaccurate parts in a blink of an eye, so the illusion of "constellations are very accurate" is produced.
I once saw a popular comment on the Internet, saying that Scorpios are the most forbearing, and a group of Scorpios below resonated and echoed.
So, I searched for other constellations boredly, and interesting places appeared, each of which said that he was the most forbearing.
Swipe left to see the forbearance of Aries, Virgin, Taurus, Cancer
Swipe left to see the forbearance of the shooter, lion, pisces, water bottle
Swipe left to see Libra, Scorpio, Gemini's forbearance
The personality of optimism, door picking, cleanliness and other personalities in the constellation is also a truth, Baidu "constellation + characteristics", you will find that every constellation is stained.
In 1971, the University of California, Berkeley, did a "constellation test".
The scientists collected and analyzed 1,000 adult zodiac signs and their attributes influenced by the Celestial Palace, such as leadership, music, art, self-confidence, creativity, career, social skills, etc.
The results show that different people in the Tiangong diagram do not differ in these aspects, and the Tiangong diagram cannot predict life at all.
▲ The Tiangong diagram is an upgraded version of the "twelve constellations" and the core content of astrology. In 1975, 192 scientists, including 19 Nobel laureates, publicly declared their opposition to astrology.
Unbelieving friends can go to the Internet to search for a "zodiac sign", cover the name of the constellation, you will find that each zodiac sign has your shadow.
02
Can astrologers really teach you to trade stocks?
Astrologers and horoscope bloggers are actually fortune tellers who wear horoscopes and make money selling chicken soup.
For example, astrologers, known as knowing astronomy and geography, have an all-encompassing astrolabe in their hands.
In the eyes of astrologers, everything is destined, from who I am, whether I and he are suitable for love, to whether I want to change jobs, is it suitable to move today, to why my luck is so bad recently, what stocks to buy, all have rules to follow and laws to govern.
In fact, the astrologer's "air pulse" is an advanced trick that combines psychology and speaking skills.
Looking at all the rhetoric of astrologers and horoscope bloggers, they treat vague, universal, and applicable descriptions for most people as their own unique, tailor-made reasoning, a bit of "big data".
Just like the previous horoscope personality analysis, their speech is big and complete, both positive and negative in a sentence, allowing themselves to always stand in a "good place".
For example, you are sometimes brave and like to try new things, and sometimes you are timid and afraid to step out of your comfort zone. You are a considerate and peaceful person, but when you are deceived, you can also get angry.
Who is not brave or timid, sometimes considerate and sometimes angry? Positive and negative, good and bad, all let you say, can you not be accurate?
They will also say that you had a bad water-related incident when you were a child.
This is just nonsense, who didn't have two or three things with water when they were a child? Scalded by boiling water, choked by swimming, or wet shoes and workbooks...
Predicting diseases is also a truth, taking the statistics of big data as your own predictions.
If you count as an old man, astrologers will usually say that he has a bad heart, and you will feel very accurate.
In fact, heart disease is a common disease in middle-aged and elderly people, just like if you ask a few random people who work in Shenzhen, nine out of ten are undergraduates. Then "bad heart" is very general, you are often nervous and fast, you can also think that the heart is bad.
Every time we encounter this ambiguous description, we can't help but make up our brains and try to move up.
▲ Fortune tellers, tarot card soothsayers, and psychics are all "tricksters" who change soup without changing medicine.
With the above skills, you can also become an astrology or horoscope blogger, and even teach stock trading and earn some money from shareholders.
According to the lucky color of his zodiac sign, you help him recommend a listed company whose logo is the same color, and then make up the trend of the stock price, say what the position of the stars in the sky corresponds to this period, how it will affect the mood of the market, and then buy or sell. Finally, some nonsense advice of "the stock market is risky, remember to buy low and sell high", perfect!
Boldly say, don't be afraid, even if the analysis is wrong, we can learn from astrologers to make up all kinds of excuses to "throw the pot".
For example, when you predict it, it happens to be reversed, which affects the accuracy, or you think too much about the influence of one star and ignore the role of another star, or you have diarrhea on the day and the state is not good...
In short, I am very good, and my prediction mistake is influenced by the outside world, not my ability.
Vague beforehand, hindsight, and then chicken soup, such as full encouragement and kind advice, cutting leeks is that simple.
03
Age anxiety and modern superstitions
In an uncertain world, people long for a sense of control over their lives, and superstitions such as horoscopes have become a lifesaver for many people to gain certainty.
This is an era of information explosion and rapid pace.
The society is huge and impetuous, full of uncertainty, we are as small as ants, staying up late for work, confused about the future, insomniacious about housing prices, and fate is like a mist.
The human heart is also complex and unpredictable, and everyone wears multiple masks, and it is difficult to know the face of the person. Coupled with the fact that life is not as good as it should be, people who have a bad circle of friends every day are comparable to the flu.
As a result, everyone is anxious about the status quo and powerless about the future, which is really stressful.
In the absence of a specific and efficient solution, the constellation theory known as "knowing the destiny of heaven and understanding people's hearts" has become a bowl of "chicken soup for the soul" of spiritual sustenance, and a "panacea" for urgent medical treatment.
Some people say that constellations are a kind of decompression entertainment, unhelpful and harmless, there is no need to fuss.
In fact, the more you believe in something, the more it will act on you. This is equivalent to a psychological hint, obsession with constellations, will make you constantly hypnotize yourself with the characteristics and fate of constellations, fall out of love and break up the blame for the water reversal, work frustration blame the life of your own constellation is like this, the whole person is completely reduced to a puppet of the constellation.
It is also said that existence is reasonable. Constellations are so popular, naturally there are advantages.
The custom of wrapping small feet also existed, and it was reasonable in the context of the time, is it correct and credible?
It is also said that people have to believe something.
Yes, people have to believe something, but not horoscopes such superstitions. You can believe in science, believe in merit, believe that there is no pie in heaven in vain, and believe that my life is up to me.
What do you think of constellations?
See you in the comment area!