Writer's Block: Full Moon Fever

[author_by_night]

[Error: unknown template qotd] I think it could make some scientific sense for our behavior to be affected  - the pull of the moon and all that. On the other hand,  I really don't think it makes people insane, or turn into werewolves - some of that is probably psychological. But it does seem that you hear of things happening on Full Moons. So I'm not sure.

Do any of you have thoughts on this?

Comments

[gileonnen.livejournal.com]

On a vaguely related note ...

[stubefied-by-gd.livejournal.com]

I think it is more reasonable to believe in the full moon having a (modest) effect on behavior than in astrology. The moon does undoubtedly influence things on earth, like the tides, and monthly cycles. And our bodies do have a lot of water in them!

[psychic-serpent.livejournal.com]

As far as I know the influence is indirect. The moon influences the tides, definitely, and the tides affect the weather and air pressure; air pressure and weather, in turn, affect humans. It's trickle-down. My OB-GYN is convinced, for instance, that a change in air pressure is what caused my water to break when I had my son; he was five days early and not really ready, whereas my daughter was five days late and came in the usual manner, rather than my water breaking first. He probably should have been five days late, too, so he was really TEN days early, when you think about it. All because of the effect the moon had on tides and weather and air pressure.

But even though there's some small affect on us due to weather and air pressure, I think a lot of the "influence" on humans is because of our being highly suggestive, or just wanting to do certain things during a full moon because it's brighter at night, etc. For instance, the idea that there's more crime during full moons may just be because criminals find it easier to function at night when it's brighter; it's a practical thing. If more babies are conceived during the full moon (and I'm not sure this is anything other than folklore) it might be because, culturally, we associate the full moon with romance and when people are feeling romantic because of a big full moon (due to cultural associations rather than any mysterious "influence") they're more likely to engage in activity that will result in babies. :D

It would be interesting to take people who had no knowledge of what phase the moon was in, tell them erroneous information about the phase, and ask them questions about how they're feeling at the moment. I'd guess that a lot of people who are simply TOLD the moon is full will answer questions about how they feel with the assumption that the moon phase affects that, so they may respond as if they are going through a little "moon madness", even without that being the current moon-phase. I think that what the full moon mostly shows is that humans are highly-suggestible.