We spend our whole lives under the stars but should we allow them and superstitions to influence our decisions? The Bell staff voted 11-10 that yes, astrology and superstitions should affect decision-making.

A majority of the class felt that astrology and superstition does affect decision making, but not necessarily that it should. Some argued that astrology has no basis and it is simply misplaced faith. The stars are simply specks of light that are light years away and should have no influence in what students do in life. On the other side of the spectrum were hard-core believers who read their horoscope every day and truly believe their personality correlates with their given star sign.

Then there were a few who felt that astrology and superstition held some truth, but most of it is created from the power the individual feeds into it. The more caught-up in the beliefs that you get the more they seem to be true to you. This is where some staff members introduced the example of the forecast in the morning impacting the kind of day they will start off with or have later on due to the influence of weather.

Several explained a form of superstition as wearing a certain jersey to ensure their team would win. Some thought that in regards to astrology, it was comforting to have something to relate to but was too general and all of the signs could relate to anyone if you tried hard enough.     

The point was made that although it may be vague, what is the harm in believing you are going to have a good day because your horoscope says so? One teacher said that if it is a small decision horoscopes can aide in the decision-making process, but if it is a life-changing decision it is better to trust more reliable sources.

If a student’s horoscope for the day was negative some believe that is how the day will play out. Whether that is because of the horoscope or simply the placebo effect of thinking a bad day is headed your way is debatable.

Whether you are superstitious whenever your favorite team plays, read your horoscope every day or think it is baseless, decision-making is hard and a little help couldn’t hurt.