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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1727 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 6, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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How did Astrology become a Thing again? Since 2020, I've encountered it more and more IRL among the general population, even in people with undergrad degrees. I checked Tinder the other week before re-un-installing, and at least 1/3rd of the profiles had birth sign front-and-center. I honestly thought this was a slain beast.

Someone talking about capricorns really riles up my inner fedora.

It's interesting how different Russia and the US are, because it never went away here. Everyone knows their star sign (and often their Chinese animal as well, I am Sagittarius/Ox btw), most newspapers and magazines (other than explicitly business-oriented ones) have a horoscope section and every December the shops are flooded with the upcoming Chinese zodiac animal-themed calendars and knick-knacks.

However, interest in astrology, tarology and related crap has been dropping since 2024, likely because more people use LLMs instead of professional esoteric services.

Everybody here knows their star sign, but usually not their Chinese animal- although if you're male you probably don't know what it's supposed to mean. Interest in astrology doesn't seem to have ever gone away, either, although admitting to it might have been unfashionable in elite circles. Tarot and psychics and related crap is still for a) hardcore nuts and b) divorced women, though.

usually not their Chinese animal

Do chinese restaurants not have placemats with their zodiac on them in your locale? Every one-horse town in Canada has had such a place for a hundred years; sometimes the only decent restaurant around. It's something to talk about while waiting for your food, reading practice for kids, etc -- so I'd say most people here would know their Chinese animal. (which is bits I'm not going to release about myself)

A surprising amount don't, and just have gigantic menus you order off of by number. I've certainly seen them, but 'Chinese' is not the default restaurant meal in large parts of America either(Tex-Mex is), and lots of them are buffets or fast-casual places that don't have menus in that sense, and even sit down Chinese restaurants often skip it.

Monkey here. But I didn't know that pre Japan. I used to read a lot of Camille Paglia and I find her takes fascinating but her attachment to astrology was always weird. In your categories she's probably more hardcore nut, though she's also separated from her lady friend. To listen to her talk about starsigns with the same straight faced dogmatism and tachyphemic eloquence that she does with most everything else was an experience.

Women love those kinds of categorization things and take them way too seriously.

Do women actually take them seriously in the sense of believing them? All the women I've known that are into astrology/tarot/etc only take them seriously in the way "gamers" take video games seriously--they put in effort to do them well, but recognize it's just a form of social entertainment.

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