On May 12, 2:29 pm, CFA <bo...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> Ray Murphy wrote:
> >On Apr 30, 4:22 am, Apollia <xerxes...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> "Ray Murphy" <ray...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message news:
> >> 089a5d28-7abf-429d-a736-f86ffb1ca...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re:
> >> Controversial Topics in Astrology:
> >> > On Apr 25, 4:01 pm, CFA <bo...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> >> Ray Murphy wrote:
> >> >> >On Apr 25, 1:24 pm, CFA <bo...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> >> >> >> Ray Murphy wrote:
>
> >> >> >> >RM: Ideally, what we need for questions like this is a giant
> >> >> >> >(alterable) online questionnaire which is filled in randomly
according
> >> >> >> >to what astrologers feel confident about at any given time. It
> >> >> >> >wouldn't prove much but it would show how much astrologers are
> >> >> >> >influenced by the movers + shakers in their country or region,
> >> >> >> >including those who keep incessantly feeding us with 'flavour
of the
> >> >> >> >month' stuff without presenting a shred of evidence to back
any of it
> >> >> >> >up.
>
> >> >> >> That would be a most excellent addition to your site :-)
>
> >> >> >RM: I've been talking about *someone* doing it since 2002, but
> >> >> >everyone told me how problematic it was to do such a thing online
due
> >> >> >to security risks and flakey database systems. It's probably a
bit
> >> >> >easier now, but my alternative idea is to make the questionnaire
> >> >> >program OFFLINE in the form of a program with the same interface.
If
> >> >> >we had that, then when a questionnaire was completed a tiny
datafile
> >> >> >with all the answers could be generated which looked like this:
> >> >> >1,3,14.22,1,1,1,0,44,56,0,1,0,22,21,4,44,99,216 and it could be
> >> >> >emailed and then pasted into a master file for (regular)
analysis.
>
> >> >> >I would imagine that such a project would go through lots of
stages as
> >> >> >astrologers kept suggesting more categories for inclusion.
>
> >> >> Sounds good to me.
>
> >> >> >> >Such a questionnaire, if it was filled in by thousands of
astrologers
> >> >> >> >around the world, would also show us which parts of astrology
were
> >> >> >> >strongly sup****ted or ignored - irrespective of what the text
books
> >> >> >> >have said, and that would guide us to the best areas of
research -
> >> >> >> >either the number crunching type or the informal type.
>
> >> >> >> I'd be more interested in the westerners now, especially in
connection
> >> >> >> with your next paragraph.
>
> >> >> >> >To me it seems rather pointless, or even amusing, for
astrologers to
> >> >> >> >argue about things in our art that were never meant to be
anything
> >> >> >> >more than a language to put us on the same page. It's a
different
> >> >> >> >story if we're dealing with those parts of astrology that are
believed
> >> >> >> >to be a REAL part of the cycles of nature - which astrologers
have
> >> >> >> >minimally understood for centuries.
>
> >> >> >> A list would be nice. Call it a starting point :-)
>
> >> >> >RM: Ok, let's brainstorm for questions and I'll make a mini
prototype
> >> >> >questionnaire program in the next few days to see how the idea
works.
> >> >> >If we get something reasonable, the concept and questions could
be
> >> >> >copied to a suitable internet programming language so that any
busy
> >> >> >website could alter it and use it to gather data online.
>
> >> >> Excellent.
>
> >> >> Ken
>
> >> > RM: Ok, the desktop questionnaire that generates data files is
ready
> >> > to go, so we had better all get a wriggle on with questions to put
in
> >> > it. Currently it has only about 100 questions/selections and they
can
> >> > be answered in under 2 minutes, so another 500 selections/questions
> >> > about anything to do with astrology would be nice.
>
> >> > I suppose the way to go from here is to email the tiny (80k)
program
> >> > to a few posters so they can offer lots of suggestions for
improvement
> >> > before the first beta version is posted on a website somewhere.
>
> >> > Ray
>
> >> OK, here are all the ideas I could think of so far. Everyone is
> >> welcome to jump in and add more ideas, comments, criticism, etc.
>
> >> * There could be people who use multiple systems of astrology, so,
the
> >> ability to choose more than one would be good, with the option of
> >> picking which system they rely on the most, and they could give some
> >> indication of how confident they are in each system. Could expand
the
> >> list with the systems named in the "Controversial Topics in
Astrology"
> >>
thread:http://groups.google.com/group/alt.astrology.moderated/browse_thread/...
>
> >[Great list snipped]
>
> >> Apollia My website:http://www.astroblahhh.com/
>
> >RM: Apollia has left the building, but the project will continue with
> >most of her suggestions being included.
> >I'll pass on the test program to Ken so he can have a gnaw at it
> >before it get to the Beta testing stage.
>
> Ooookay. I'll give it a shot. My email address below is real, weblink
> is fine.
RM: I assume you got it alright.
>
> Ken
Ray
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