The Skeptical Inquirer magazine has had numerous articles on this over the years, with professional astronomers doing studies that seem to always show no effect of a full Moon on human behavior. Still, the belief seems to continue.
Years ago I taught community college astronomy in a small college in Colorado and I had police officers taking the class ( to get required college credits to move up the salary scale). This topic of the full Moon came up frequently, with these students insisting it was true: there was more violent crime during a full Moon.
Since a term paper was required for my class, I challenged these students to use this idea for their paper. These students had access to police records and statistics on the police
department computers, so I instructed them to come up with a definition for “violent crime” and search the police department computer records by date over several year’s time, correlating the violent crimes to the periods of the full Moon. Over the years several students took me up on the challenge. The results were always the same: no significant increase in violent crime during periods of a full Moon.
One student later told me he had gone to a police conference where he reported the conclusions of his paper to the group-- along with other studies from the Skeptical Inquirer. The leader of the conference made the comment, “We know what the studies show, but we still knew better.”
I had a similar reaction from a nurse who used hospital records to see if more accidents occurred during full Moon periods. They didn’t, but she couldn’t get other medical staff members to accept that.
"My mind is made up. Don’t confuse me with facts.)
Santa, when you start a thread, it’s helpful to other readers if you provide a link to the column you’re discussing. Helps keep us all on the same page, saves search time, etc. In this case, I assume it’s: Do things get crazy when the moon is full? - The Straight Dope
No biggie, you’ll remember next time. And you’ll post more often than, what, averaging twice a year?
First, I realize there may be NO connection at all between a full moon and crazy behavior, and I’m well aware that there’s nothing but anecdotal evidence to suggest that there’s more crime or craziness on nights when there’s a full moon.
BUT, for the sake of argument, suppose there WAS statistical evidence to show that cops and nurses are right, and that they really ARE much busier on nights when there’s a full moon. Would THAT prove anything about the moon’s effect on people?
Probably not. I’m reminded of an old proverb New York City cops used to repeat: “The best policeman is rain.” That is, even muggers, rapists, crazies and gang bangers don’t want go out at night when it’s raining cats and dogs- which means cops and ER nurses usually expect a quiet night when there’s a torrential rain. And they’re usually right.
Well, obviously the moon is full even when you can’t see it, BUT… doesn’t it stand to reason that if a cop NOTICES a full moon, it’s a clear night? Which means the bad guys and crazies will be out in full force?
Even if there WERE a proven connection, that could mean only “Bad guys and crazies are more active on nights when the weather is good.” WHich is neither surprising nor even interesting.
Your post seems to imply that there can’t be good weather on nights that aren’t a full moon.
You are correct, even if the statistics showed a bump in crimes and crazies on full moon nights, that wouldn’t necessarily mean the moon being full is a direct effect. There could be a different mechanism than the moon affecting behavior by tides or gravity or whatever.
Full moon lunacy. Heh. So anyway, my pop honestly believes that full moons cause people to behave strangely. The behavioral changes aren’t measurable –no sudden crime sprees or rash of injuries– just increased general weirdness. I asked him to explain, and he couldn’t really come up with anything clear. After that I said he was being silly, and that people’s behavior and what percentage of the moon is visible at the moment have zero relationship. He insisted that one day when I’d seen as many moons as he had, full or otherwise, a lot of little things would add up and I would notice there was a difference, even if it’s not something as easily identifiable as instances of crime.
Funny thing is he’s dead ass serious. My dad’s a little crazy.
Suppose on Monday night, there’s a full moon and a clear sky. The usual bad guys and crazies are out making mischief, which means cops and ER nurses have their hands full. As they go home, they shake their heads and say “This always happens when there’s a full moon.”
Now, on Tuesday night, the moon is STILL full, but the weather has changed. There are heavy thunderstorms all over the city. The bad guys and crazies stay home and dry. Policemen and nurses never see the full moon behind the clouds, and forget it’s there. Hence, when they go home at the end of a quiet shift, it doesn’t even occur to them that there was a full moon. Hence, they never stop to reconsider the validity of their full moon theory.
I’ve often wondered if it’s one of those difficult to quantify experiences. Not the number of events, but a certain quality of oddness. If it is a clear night, a full moon does provide more light, and for those people who believe in it, an excuse to act oddly. Medical and law enforcement tend to remember the nutty ones, the difficult to clearly describe folks. And those people might, knowing it is a full moon, decide that is having an effect on them, so they will act out.
I’ll believe that the numbers don’t bear out that there is more in terms of quantity. But I’ve never seen a study that addresses the question of uniqueness, or peculiarity. It would be very difficult to design, almost impossible to double-blind.
I have heard a variation of that theory that it’s because more light, not necessarily better weather, means more crime opportunities on that night. Like the common belief that neighborhood crimes go up when school is out (the accuracy of which I don’t know), e.g. brightly lit nights just allow or encourage more people to be out in general. So, more opportunity for the regular criminals and nutcases to be out doing what they do on that night.
I suppose we should take this question to NASA’s “Ask An Astrophysicist” column to get to the bottom of this once and for all.
More likely, the full moon does influence the behaviour of the less-than-stable precisely because it’s there - “I see it’s a full moon! Say, suddenly I feel ever weirder!”. I’d bet that whatever measurable effect occurs on full/new moon nights happens overwhelming when moon is full (ie easily visible) rather than new. And more in areas where it’s visible (ie not big cities).
Half of all crime happens within one week of a full moon. So do half of all births. And half of all good deeds. Heck, half of everything happens within one week of a full moon.
Except now it’s Friday, the moon isn’t anywhere near full, but the sky is clear, so all the crazies are out, along with the bad guys (and the zombies, don’t EVER forget the zombies!), and the cops and ER nurses have their hands full and go home thinking, “This always happens when there’s only a partial moon.” :smack:
