Cascoly Books: Full Moon Myths

Cascoly Books - Full Moon Myths

Among the myths that just won't go away is the one that the full moon exerts effects on people - that crimes increase, babies all decide to emerge, women's menses sync with it, psych wards go on hyperdrive, etc, etc, etc.

The quoted passages below show some comments from a recent discussion on  the hubpage site alleging these effects. Unfortunately minnetonkatwin, the author of that hubpage removes comments that disagree with her, so only comments that support her theory are left.

The author has at least changed an earlier claim

Here is a list of Fun Facts and intriguing effects of a full moon, per my research from "Scientific Magazine".

This has now been changed to read

Although research has not yet validated the 'Lunar Lunacy effect', this is a list of possible effects that have come from proponents of the theory.

The same unsupported claims are still there, though, with references for NONE of them.

Hold on as we plumb the depths of ignorance:
The moon is nearest us in space so why not! I think we are affected in some way and since the gravity from the moon can affect the oceans it also should have an effect on humans. I am not sure if we can blame our behaviour on the moon though:)) Either way, it is an interesting topic and I enjoyed reading,

 My mother used to work as a nurse in a state hospital and I remember her dreading to go to work on nights with a full moon and she always had some pretty wild stories to tell. I've always found this subject interesting and it's even better now with Halloween on the way :)

Thanks for reading my hub on a full moon. I too believe in Lunar Lunacy as I worked for a Crisis Phone Counseling Clinic and our phones rang off the hook during full moons. I think it's such a cool topic

I write about Astrology and subjects related, and was thinking of writing a hub on this topic. But you did a great job. I also know that police get many more calls for domestic disturbances during full moons. In ancient times, all the women who lived in tribes had their menstrual cycles begin at the Full Moon, and they would go into the woods for a few days (nice girl's time out for a few days)!

When I worked as an aide in a nursing home, I could tell there was a full moon on the rise just by observing the change in behavior exhibited by the residents. When I was a teacher, I also noticed a difference in students' behaviors before a full moon. Even if it is not supported by research, I fully believe the full moon affects the minds of some people. ;) Thanks for sharing this interesting information!

 

Isn't it wonderful that people are not going to let FACTS or the absence thereof interfere with their belief systems. We're all entitled to our beliefs, but we're NOT all entitled to make up our own facts, and this is yet another example of the anti-intellectual,  anti-science trend in the US in particular. Unfortunately, these people also vote, serve on juries and otherwise make decisions that affect all of us.

In response to such comments about what effects a full moon might have on humans - these answers all come down to anecdotal evidence - in fact, there are few, if any, scientific studies that show any such effect. Remember too that the only difference between a full moon and a new or half moon is not the distance from the earth [which does have a global gravitational effect on tides] but how much of the sun's rays are reflected to the earth. and normal solar radiation far exceeds any tiny amount of reflected light from the moon. If there were an effect, we'd expect to see greater effects not during a full moon, but when the moon is closest to the earth. In reality, there is no evidence for either case, just anecdotal urban myths

 

What DOES seem to produce these tales is that in a police station or trauma center, on a busy night, someone will remark "Wow! we're busy, must be a full moon!." No one bothers to check.[ Quick! what's today's phase for the moon? ] Instead people later remember talking about the full moon, and that memory of a GUESS gets reinforced and later 'recalled' as the fact that there was a full moon. . My own admittedly anecdotal surveys confirm this - whenever anyone makes a 'must be a full moon' comment not meant as a joke, i ask them if they know what the current phase of the moon is - I have yet to have anyone give me a correct answer. Check http://www.skepdic.com/fullmoon.html for more details on the actual scientific studies.

In terms of gravity's effects, gravitational power drops off as the square of distance. Do the mathand you'll discover the person next to you has a greater gravitational effect on you than the moon. In terms of astrology, your OB-GYN has a much greater gravitational effect on your newborn than all the 'planets' combined. Yet his/her name never appears in an astrological chart.

 

As for the original poster's claim of facts found in "Scientific Magazine." First, there's no such publication.Instead, if you search you can find real information such as these articles


Cascoly Prints & Products
You can search by product, by collection or by keyword.
Framed wall art, coffee mugs, greeting cards
notebooks, jigsaw puzzles, clothing and much more
  • Cascoly book reviews & recommendations
  • Make money from your photography
  • Cascoly pictures and photos are available for you to use on your website, blog or other projects.
  • Cascoly blogs on travel, history & science