The Prophet`s dilemma

1
Hi

We all know the concept of ?self-fulfilling prophecy?. It is when a certain prediction causes it to become true. There are many classic examples in old stories and literature.

But the opposite exists too. When something becomes not true because it was predicted. The prediction itself (or the person?s response to it) prevents it from happening. This is called: ?prophet?s dilemma?.

For example an astrologer may predict that somebody will become rich and famous after his 30th birthday. The person?s believes it and becomes a bit lazier, no need to study and work hard if he is going to be rich and famous soon. As result the person wastes his life and dies very poor. When he realized the astrologer?s prediction was wrong it was too late. Maybe if he hadn?t gone to that astrologer, he might have become rich and famous.

Or a woman who is lonely gets predicted that she will meet her life partner next month and will marry before the end of the year. She is happy to hear that, but now she becomes more nervous and tense when she goes out. Where will she meet her partner? Will he be handsome, or rich? The anticipation makes her tense. Because of her nervousness no man is attracted to her. When the month passes by without any significant new meeting, the woman gets depressed because she thinks she has missed her chance. She remains single for the rest of her life. How different her life might have been if she hadn?t met that astrologer?

Making a correct prediction can be harmful for a person. Making a wrong prediction can sometimes help a person. The work of an astrologer is very paradoxical. Sometimes he does a good job by making bad predictions. If that?s not a nice excuse?

I think every prediction, good or bad, will change by the fact: that something what is hidden and comes to the surface (in the light), is the same process if unconscious stuff in a person becomes conscious. In the light of consciousness transformation already takes place. So every prediction will change.

2
If something such as "you WILL become rich by 30" can be predicted it must be fated, no? Then, would not the prediction itself be part of that fate?

IMO, anyone who takes prediction this seriously, no matter which side of the table, likely suffers from delusions of grandeur (the one doing such precise prediction) or a raging case of external locus (the one waiting around for it to "happen to them").

Astrological prediction is about probabilities and opportunities. IMO, It's not a "you will", "this will", kind of thing. Some people would say that natal predictive astrology, using this type of language, and practiced directly to the native, is unethical.

This is a big elephant in the room for traditional astrology. This ethical conundrum. Personally, I think traditional astrology is best used as a research tool, to perhaps prove astro effects using statistics, etc...I've seen some impressive predictions that have convinced me of
"something to this astro stuff", but lets face it, when tallying up any individual astrologer's specific predictions, in total, s/he will not qualify to set your clock to!

3
Predictions, even when they come to realisation, are not irreversible. People make money then lose it, fall in love then out of it. Learning to be your own astrologer counters a lot of these problems of prediction, look beyond the potential, finding when transits and progressions are highlighted then look for the transits and progressions to reverse everything - they are always there. The organic process of our personal astrology is a work in progress, we need to consult our chart day by day to see the nuances, not a one-off forecast for our whole life, that could never work.

4
I think predictive astrology does best in suggesting good or bad times to do something, or likely and unlikely times for something to happen. I don't like to view it as a kind of fortune-telling.

However, some astrologers have psychic abilities, and maybe they can do a better job of saying when someone will marry and how many children she will have, which I seem to be reading a lot of lately.

This is the huge puzzle of astrology. To the extent that we allow so-called "free will" we limit the efficacy of astrology. To the extent that we allow fatalism or planetary determinism, then the concepts of on-the-spot moral choice or initiative become meaningless, because we are no more than DVDs of "This is Your Life" being played out with someone else's hand on the "play" button.