Fake horoscope works just as well?

The following excerpt is from Astrology Zine, written and copyrighted 2001 by Michael Star, titled A Skeptic's Bait-and-Switch Trick.

Excerpt :
"I once saw a documentary show on public television about a skeptic named "the Amazing Randi" - who had worked as a professional magician. He told a group of young men and women in a classroom that they would be given horoscope readings about themselves if they submitted their birth data. When they were handed out their printed "horoscope readings" and had read them over, they were polled by asking them to raise their hands if they thought the readings accurately described them. Most everyone put up his or her hand.

Then Randi told them to hand the reading to the person behind them and read that "horoscope" to see how accurately IT described them. That was when each of them noticed that they had all been reading a copy of the SAME printed reading!

...

This so-called "experiment" only "proved" that someone like Randi could write a FAKE horoscope reading that WOULD apply to anyone; and that he could LIE to them to make them think they were reading a real horoscope reading about themselves, and that they would agree that the fake reading did appear to accurately describe them.

It did NOT prove that a REAL horoscope reading would or would not describe them accurately; and it did NOT prove that if they exchanged their REAL horoscope reading with another person, then that person would agree that it also described them accurately. No REAL horoscopes were even used in this "experiment". Real horoscopes based on the unique time and place of birth of each individual in the group would all have been different, not the same. "

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Seems almost believable. Though one might think to ask in what sense would horoscope matter to anyone if both fake and real horoscope accurately describes the person. The argument is nothing more than a variation of a Not a True Scotsman fallacy. Fake horoscope is not a "REAL" horoscope. Inaccurate horoscope are not "REAL" horoscope. Probably the only "REAL" horoscope is as and when Michael says so.

Techorati Tags : horoscope Michael Star Not a true Scotsman Non falsifiability