> I automatically assume they are not intelligent, irrational, and I find it impossible to take them seriously
There are a lot of people who are highly regarded in history but who also believed in astrology, so you shouldn't be too hard on it. Do you feel similarly about people who believe in various religions?
These people believed in astrology to varying degrees:
Winston Churchill
J.P. Morgan
Nancy Reagan
Theodore Roosevelt (even displayed his horoscope in the Oval Office)
Smart people believe a lot of stupid things. It’s not realistic to expect them to be perfect in all aspects of their lives, particularly if they have no background in epistemology or science in general. I mean, Jobs was obviously smart, and yet believed in all sorts of new age and alternative medicine bollocks. This should be enough of a proof that you can be smart and believe stupid things.
I just dug into it further and it's rather interesting. TLDR Churchill did not personally believe in astrology, but he did in fact use astrologers as part of his political and military planning on several occasions, but not for the reasons it at first seems. He knew his opponents often believed quite a bit in astrology, so he used astrologers as a way to better understand what and when his opponents might move, often with effective results. Fascinating. Thanks for the prompt to look into this more.
There are a lot of people who are highly regarded in history but who also believed in astrology, so you shouldn't be too hard on it. Do you feel similarly about people who believe in various religions?
These people believed in astrology to varying degrees:
Winston Churchill
J.P. Morgan
Nancy Reagan
Theodore Roosevelt (even displayed his horoscope in the Oval Office)
This is just a small sample.