Tales of Full Moon’s Effect Found Not to Hold Water
Contrary to legends and werewolves, nothing in particular happens to the psyche of man or beast when the moon is full, according to three scientists.
The scientists reported in the Skeptical Inquirer--a journal that likes to debunk the stuff campfire stories are made of--that after reviewing more than 40 studies of the effect of the moon on human behavior, they could find no effect at all.
“The majority of the studies said that anyway,” said I. W. Kelly, a professor of statistics at the University of Saskatchewan in Canada who wrote the report with two other scientists. “The ones that did find a correlation either had glaring errors or the correlations were so minor they were statistically insignificant.”
Increase in Accidents
Some of these studies, conducted by other researchers over several years, suggested that the full moon is responsible for increased incidence of alcoholism, automobile accidents, madness, arson, suicide and homicide, Kelly said.
This correlation is widely believed by most people, he said, and it is backed up by police, emergency room workers and bartenders who swear they are busier when the moon is at its fullest than when it is waxing and waning.
‘Perceptions Conform’
“Once the initial belief is there, then perceptions conform to it,” Kelly said. “It’s easy to remember the night the emergency room was full and the moon full. But what about the night the moon was full and the emergency room empty?
“No one remembers those nights because they don’t fit the pattern they believe in.”
Gravitational Pull
Most who hold by the correlation theory argue the gravitational pull of the moon affects humans, who are mostly made of water, just as it affects the tides of the oceans.
But Kelly argues there is too little water in the human body for the moon to have much of an impact.
“If that gravitational pull reasoning were correct, every puddle of water would be sliding around during the full moon,” he said. “Humans are so small, the effect of the moon is almost nothing.”
