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Someone, a week or two ago, asked me something related to the perpetual belief that people do more crazy shit during a Full Moon than at other times during the lunar cycle. This has been a belief for a very long time, and we even have the word 'lunatic'  to describe the phenomenon, so there must be something special about the Full Moon, right? Does the Moon Affect Humans? Yes, the moon and its lunar cycles can impact you — but for other reasons than you may think Well, the only thing I can think of that's special about the Full Moon is the amount of light we see. In the time before electric lights, this would have effectively extended the time when one could see well outdoors. More activity can lead to more perceived instances of people acting weird, because people have acted weird since there were people. Others, however, have, both historically and well into the current era, ascribed a more mystical connection to it. This is, I think, akin to the Bermuda Triangle mythology: that particular stretch of ocean has been perceived to be especially mysterious and prone to make ships and planes disappear; but, as it turns out, when you compare that area to other places with similar traffic, there are no more or fewer disappearances in the BT than elsewhere. And this is why we use science and statistics. For centuries, the moon and how it affects human behavior has been at the center of mythology and folklore around the world. The very word “lunacy” dates back to the 15th century when it was believed the moon and its phases could make people become more or less aggressive, depending on its place in the lunar cycle. So, I see four different possibilities: 1. The Full Moon causes people to do crazy shit, for some mystical reason; 2. People do more crazy shit during a Full Moon for some rational reason; 3. People don't do more crazy shit during a Full Moon; observation bias (as with the BT) makes people think it happens more then; 4. People think there's a link between Full Moon and Crazy, so they let their inhibitions loose, and it becomes self-fulfilling. Okay, 4 may be a subset of 2. I'm pretty sure regular readers already know I've ruled out #1. But I'm willing to keep an open mind. That's the only way we learn stuff. But then, of course, there are lesser stories that hold a darker tone — haunting tales of werewolves whose transformation is dependent on the full moon. It occurred to me the other day that, canonically, vampires shun sunlight and only come out at night. But moonlight is reflected sunlight, so maybe, just maybe, a Full Moon doesn't provide enough sunlight to fry a vampire, but just enough to turn them into a werewolf. I don't think anyone's written about that yet, so don't steal my idea; I may use it. When you set aside superstitions and longstanding myths, is there any scientific truth behind the way the moon bewitches us? Psychologist Susan Albers, PsyD, walks us through some of the research that’s been done on lunar cycles — and why we may just be changing our behaviors based on independent psychological reasons, instead. All organisms conduct natural biological cycles for survival. When we talk about biological cycles, we probably most often think of our circadian rhythm — our bodies’ internal 24-hour sleep-wake cycle — and infradian rhythms (cycles that last longer than 24 hours) like the 28-day menstrual cycle or seasonal affective disorder (SAD). Couple of things here. First of all, this is my introduction to the term "infradian rhythm," and I'm both happy to learn a new word and angry that it's taken me this long to discover it. Second, it's long been noted that the menstrual cycle is similar to the lunar cycle. It's right there in the name; 'menses,' 'moon,' and 'month' share a PIE root. Whether this is coincidence or causation is outside the scope of this entry, but if there were a causal link, you'd think everyone who menstruates would do so at the same time, but, as far as I know, they don't. And since our human bodies are made up of 55% to about 78% of water, there’s some reason to believe we, too, might be impacted by the moon, its light and its 27-day lunar cycle — especially when you consider the moon’s gravitational pull on the earth is powerful enough to affect the ocean tides. Here's where I start to really question the source material. For starters, the lunar cycle, from Full to Full or New to New, is about 29.5 days, not 27. I think the 27 comes from the Moon's orbital period, which is shorter because the Earth is simultaneously orbiting the Sun. But we're talking about Full Moons here, not the Moon's orbital return to a certain location against the stellar background, so 29.5 should be the operating number. Also, I've seen this comparison to tides before. Oh, we're mostly water, so we're also affected by tides? I call bullshit. There's nothing magical about water that makes it special for tides. The ground is subject to tidal forces, too, though with a much smaller effect. If this weren't the case, the Moon wouldn't be tidally locked to Earth, showing us the same side at all times. Point is, though, tides are basically caused by a different size gravity vector on one side of an object than another. Humans are quite small compared to a planet (or moon); I find it extraordinarily unlikely that gravity is involved, especially when there's an even bigger difference in gravity when the Moon is closer or further away in its elliptical orbit. I mean, do puddles experience tides? And let me digress on that "elliptical orbit" point for a moment: every time the Full Moon occurs near lunar perigee, my news feed gets inundated with articles about the impending Supermoon. I don't mind much; at least it gets people looking at the sky. But perigee changes from lunar month to lunar month; it doesn't always occur at a Full Moon. If there's an effect based on proximity, some force that makes people do crazy shit when the Moon is closer, it should happen every lunar month at a different phase, not be associated with the Full Moon. The Sun might present a confounding factor, but even there, the effect should be similar at a New Moon and a Full Moon, and less at the quarter-phases. Okay, back to the article. “Any research that’s been done has been considered controversial, in part, because studies on humans are conflicting,” says Dr. Albers. “In most cases, when there’s been discussion of the moon’s effect on humans, it’s been anecdotal.” And it's also controversial, I'd hazard to guess, because anyone who tries to study it immediately gets labeled a lunatic. Ask anyone about how a full moon affects our lives and you’ve probably heard stories about birth rates climbing, an increase in emergency room visits and an uptick in crime. As this review points out, there seems to be no correlation between the lunar cycle and those things. Well, there you go. The answer. Okay, no, I'm kidding. But, nothing happens in a vacuum. The Moon's orbit does! Some studies have shown a possible correlation between the moon and human activity. At least they were careful to use "correlation." The rest of the article is the "More research needs to be done" section, including a lot of discussion about what I hinted at up above: the self-fulfilling aspect of all this. (I'm going to utterly ignore the final section, which is about maintaining a positive, upbeat, and optimistic outlook, at which point I said "bite my ass" out loud.) When I was a kid, and way further into adulthood than I care to admit (okay, right up until the present moment), every time I'd spot a Full Moon, I'd howl like a wolf. The Moon doesn't make me howl; that's something I decided to do after reading too many werewolf stories. There is one thing I feel certain about, though; Life is a lot more interesting with a Moon in the sky. And I don't need to be a mystic or a poet to see the beauty or insanity of it all. |
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