The vast majority, who believe in astrology and think that the planets have nothing better to do than form a code that will tell them whether tomorrow is a good day to close a business deal or not, become all the more excited and enthusiastic about the bilge when a group of astronomers denounces it.

Asimov is criticizing popular astrology as a form of wishful thinking that treats the cosmos as a personalized signaling system for mundane choices. The jab that the planets “have nothing better to do” underscores the anthropocentric assumption behind horoscopes. He also points to a backlash dynamic: when experts publicly denounce a pseudoscience, believers may become more attached to it, reading condemnation as proof of importance or as persecution by elites. The quote thus comments not only on astrology’s implausibility but on the psychology of belief and the counterproductive effects that scornful scientific rebuttals can sometimes have on public enthusiasm for dubious ideas.