--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There is something in statistics that…" description: "\"There is something in statistics that makes it very similar to astrology.\" — Gian-Carlo Rota" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/gian-carlo-rota-19795_astrology_there-is-something-in-statistics-that-ma_1843333.png" --- # There is something in statistics that makes it very… ![“There is something in statistics that makes it very similar to astrology.” quote by Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/gian-carlo-rota-19795_astrology_there-is-something-in-statistics-that-ma_1843333.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/gian-carlo-rota-19795_astrology_there-is-something-in-statistics-that-ma_1843333.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/677/gian-carlo-rota-19795_astrology_there-is-something-in-statistics-that-ma_1843333.png) > “There is something in statistics that makes it very similar to astrology.” [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Statistics can appear mystical because it predicts patterns, similar to astrology. **In simple terms:** Statistics feels like modern astrology. Key Takeaway Recognize the limits of statistical predictions. Themes probability prediction skepticism Mood critical thoughtful Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - weather forecasting - stock market analysis - public health studies Key Concepts data analysis epistemology Questions to Reflect On - When do you trust a statistical claim? - How does this differ from superstition? 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Apparently, too much bike riding or something similar has rendered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/some-pundits-have-proposed-that-the-aliens-have-come-here-to-breed/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) ## More by Gian-Carlo Rota > [Every lecture should state one main point and repeat it over and over, like a theme with variations. An audience is like a herd…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/every-lecture-should-state-one-main-point-and-repeat-it-over-and-over/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [God created infinity, and man, unable to understand infinity, had to invent finite sets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/god-created-infinity-and-man-unable-to-understand-infinity-had-to/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [Philosophers and psychiatrists should explain why it is that we mathematicians are in the habit of systematically erasing our footsteps. 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After fifty minutes (one microcentury as von Neumann used to say) everybody's attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/running-overtime-is-the-one-unforgivable-error-a-lecturer-can-make/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [Nature imitates mathematics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/nature-imitates-mathematics/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [Mathematics is the study of analogies between analogies. All science is. Scientists want to show that things that don't look alike are really the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/mathematics-is-the-study-of-analogies-between-analogies-all-science/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [If we have no idea why a statement is true, we can still prove it by induction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/if-we-have-no-idea-why-a-statement-is-true-we-can-still-prove-it-by/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [Mathematicians also make terrible salesmen. Physicists can discover the same thing as a mathematician and say 'We've discovered a great new law of nature.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/mathematicians-also-make-terrible-salesmen-physicists-can-discover/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [Stan Ulam was lazy, ... He talked too much ... He was self-centered ... . He had an overpowering personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/stan-ulam-was-lazy-he-talked-too-much-he-was-self-centered-he-had-an/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [Theorems are not to mathematics what successful courses are to a meal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/theorems-are-not-to-mathematics-what-successful-courses-are-to-a-meal/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) > [Combinatorics is an honest subject. No adèles, no sigma-algebras. You count balls in a box, and you either have the right number or you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gian-carlo-rota/combinatorics-is-an-honest-subject-no-ad-les-no-sigma-algebras-you/) [Gian-Carlo Rota](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) [Explore all 32 Gian-Carlo Rota quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gian-carlo-rota/) ## More Astrology quotes > [Failure or success seems to have been allotted to men by their stars. But they retain the power of wriggling, of fighting with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/failure-or-success-seems-to-have-been-allotted-to-men-by-their-stars/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My sign is Leo. A Leo has to walk with pride. When he takes a step, he has to put his foot down. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wesley-snipes/my-sign-is-leo-a-leo-has-to-walk-with-pride-when-he-takes-a-step-he/) [Wesley Snipes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wesley-snipes/) > [When a Gemini is finally tired of trying, they will just leave, no fight, no argument and sometimes not even a goodbye.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-a-gemini-is-finally-tired-of-trying-they-will-just-leave-no/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Astrology is knocking at the gates of our universities: A Tübingen professor has switched over to astrology and a course on astrology was given…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/astrology-is-knocking-at-the-gates-of-our-universities-a-t-bingen/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [An Aries will continue something even if others give up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/an-aries-will-continue-something-even-if-others-give-up/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Sagittarius don't like to be the first one to say sorry when they knew they were right in the first place.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/sagittarius-don-t-like-to-be-the-first-one-to-say-sorry-when-they/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All anyone can see in a birthchart are tendencies that will become facts if he does not do something to alter them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isabel-hickey/all-anyone-can-see-in-a-birthchart-are-tendencies-that-will-become/) [Isabel Hickey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isabel-hickey/) > [“Rooster/Pisces: Likes shiny things.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-white/rooster-pisces-likes-shiny-things/) [Suzanne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-white/) > [Astrology reveals the will of the gods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juvenal/astrology-reveals-the-will-of-the-gods/) [Juvenal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juvenal/) > [As in the instances of alchemy, astrology, witchcraft, and other such popular creeds, political economy, has a plausible idea at the root of it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/as-in-the-instances-of-alchemy-astrology-witchcraft-and-other-such/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [I wanna say I'm detached, but I'm an Aquarius that's sensitive as hell. That's dope, though.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denzel-curry/i-wanna-say-i-m-detached-but-i-m-an-aquarius-that-s-sensitive-as-hell/) [Denzel Curry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denzel-curry/) > [Turquoise is my birthstone; I'm a Sagittarius.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zoe-kravitz/turquoise-is-my-birthstone-i-m-a-sagittarius/) [Zoe Kravitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zoe-kravitz/) > [Both the five-year-olds looked at me with bewilderment and a bit of fearful uncertainty. I had a sudden horrifying image of the woman I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-gilbert/both-the-five-year-olds-looked-at-me-with-bewilderment-and-a-bit-of/) [Elizabeth Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-gilbert/) > [Most Sagittariuses start off really reserved. You gotta check people out, see what they're about, and then once we decide you're cool, then that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kiki-layne/most-sagittariuses-start-off-really-reserved-you-gotta-check-people/) [KiKi Layne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kiki-layne/) > [I don't believe in astrology; I'm a Sagittarius and we're skeptical.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/i-don-t-believe-in-astrology-i-m-a-sagittarius-and-we-re-skeptical/) [Arthur C. 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