full moons

Oranage2

Not sure the right place as not really a cover up but is there any proof that people go crazy around full moon?

RGDATA!

this article discusses it and comes up with a skeptical (obv) conclusion

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=lunacy-and-the-full-moon

there is also discussion you might in the comment section which you might be interested in.

personally, i have seen crazy behaviour and noticed it was a full moon, and somewhere in my head have given credence to the notion, even come up with pseudo scientific explanations for why that might be so. but I think it's just a harmless enough superstition i have chosen to hold on to, I don't really believe it.

blue5000

Ya I find it hard to sleep during a full moon, And I just noticed I tend to stalk strange ppl on boards.......:eek:

Daithi 1

Lunatic:


In a 1999 Journal of Affective Disorders article, a hypothesis was suggested indicating that the phase of the moon may in the past have had an effect on bipolar patients by providing light during nights which would otherwise have been dark, and affecting susceptible patients through the well-known route of sleep deprivation.[1] With the introduction of electric light, this effect would have gone away, as light would be available every night, explaining the negative results of modern studies. They suggest ways in which this hypothesis might be tested.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunatic

snafuk35

Since our brains are full of water I wouldn't be surprised if the moon has an effect.

Undergod

snafuk35 wrote: »

Since our brains are full of water I wouldn't be surprised if the moon has an effect.

The person sitting next to you has more of a gravitational effect on you than the moon does, as far as I know.

That's interesting about sensitivity to daylight cycles, though.

snafuk35

Undergod wrote: »

The person sitting next to you has more of a gravitational effect on you than the moon does, as far as I know.

The moon has a gigantic gravitational pull that causes a phenomena called tides.

I'm not sure if the moon affects human behavior but if I'm right that it has to do with a gravitational influence on our watery brains then I'm pretty sure it is more likely to have a greater gravitational pull than the person next to me.
Unless you are in the company of very large people where you live.:)

Undergod

No, the gravitational pull of the moon is very slight, but the fact it's on a huge body of water is what causes tides. The gravitational effect is relative to the two bodies involved - even the mediterranean isn't big enough to have noticable tides.
Though, I've just checked this and you're right; the pull of the moon is still about 100 times stronger. Seems I was mixing up my facts.

The other thing to remember though is that as far as I understand, the phase of the moon has nothing to do with it's distance from the earth, so if I'm right, the basis of that hypothesis is pretty suspect. Didn't think of this earlier! Could be wrong though.

fontanalis

snafuk35 wrote: »

Since our brains are full of water I wouldn't be surprised if the moon has an effect.

I assume that is a reference to the moon effecting tides; the moon only effects the water indirectly through the earths crust, doesn't it?