A lot of people, including a few members of our family, believe that a full moon brings out the worst in people. I\u2019ve read all sorts of stories about more suicides, more violence, more accidents, and more aggression occurring when the moon is full. The influence of the moon on behavior has been called \u201cThe Lunar Effect\u201d or sometimes, \u201cThe Transylvania Effect.\u201d<\/p>\n
Claire had to go to the emergency room a number of years ago. She was there several hours and I had to spend most the time in the emergency waiting room. It turns out there was a full moon that night and I do remember a lot<\/em> of bizarre things going on \u2014 it was actually entertaining just sitting there watching. I remember a nurse saying something like, \u201cyou can sure tell it\u2019s a full moon tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite all the claims that emergency rooms and police departments are busier on nights when there is a full moon is\u2026. at best, debatable. I won\u2019t bother you with a lot of data, but there is<\/em> a lot<\/em> of data as a result of studies attempting to tie the full moon to behavior. The results of the studies are inconsistent. Some studies indicate that a particular behavior will occur more often during a full moon and other studies show no relationship between that behavior and a full moon. Like any study, the parameters are all important. Some of these studies include \u201cfull moon\u201d behaviors that occur a few days before and after the full moon, while other studies include only those behaviors within a single day of the full moon. Inconsistency is \u00a0pretty much the story with all \u201clunar-effect\u201d claims \u2014 when you look at them closely, they fall apart.<\/p>\n So how do we explain all those cops and emergency room nurses who believe in the lunar effect? It may be because nobody notices when there\u2019s a full moon and nothing happens \u2014 you only notice when something does<\/em> happen. It\u2019s kind of like heads I win, tails don\u2019t count\u2026. or \u2014 maybe not.<\/p>\n But anyhow, once a month, sometimes twice a month, there\u2019s gonna be a full moon (it\u2019s possible to have month without a full moon \u2014 it doesn\u2019t happen often, but it happened in February 2018. It can only happen in the month of February.) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A lot of people, including a few members of our family, believe that a full moon brings out the worst in people. I\u2019ve read all sorts of stories about more suicides, more violence, more accidents, and more aggression occurring when … Continue reading
\nSo if you\u2019re a believer, plan a nice quiet night at home once (or twice) a month\u2026. except for those years you can live it up all month in February.
\n\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n