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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Tonight Shit Might Get Weird Tonight
Posted by Christopher Frizzelle on Tue, Mar 10, 2009 at 8:35 PM
2
Seriously. Google "confirmation bias". And try not to perpetuate untrue myths.
http://skepdic.com/fullmoon.html
http://skepdic.com/fullmoon.html
8
hey--i've worked a couple of service sector jobs and i can always tell you when there's a full moon because customers get crazier, needier, bitchier, and all around more annoying. none of the studies referenced at those links talked about consumption behavior. maybe i've found the missing link!
12
@ 8 ditto! I was having horrible horrible annoying insane customers today at work and then someone realized it was a full moon. Crazy shit.
13
When was the last time this happened?
Somebody was at work, having a generally good shift, where everything is working, everybody's being cool, stuff's getting done. Everything's just groovy.
And then somebody looks at a calendar and goes "No wonder! It's a NEW MOON!"
How come that never happens?
Somebody was at work, having a generally good shift, where everything is working, everybody's being cool, stuff's getting done. Everything's just groovy.
And then somebody looks at a calendar and goes "No wonder! It's a NEW MOON!"
How come that never happens?
15
I have to say, as a former bookseller, I dreaded full moon nights for just this reason. And I'm not superstitious. Except when I am.
16
AWwooooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! When you're working at a hippie cafe one night in Scotland, and things get over the top, and then over the top again, with weird customers, flirtations, strange happenings, and a spontaneous candle-lit drug and sex party after hours, and someone turns to you and says "oh my god this is crazy", and then you step outside and say, "oh shit, it's the full moon!", like I have, then you become impervious to the nattering naybobs of science who try to suck the life out of life.
17
#16, how about all the boring, dreary full moon nights that pass completely without incident? It's natural not to notice those, of course. Anecdotes like yours remind me of people who, say, survive a plane crash and chalk it up to Jesus hearing their prayers. Of course, they remain oblivious to all the other folks who died in the crash....
Like #1 and #2 said, read some science, folks. I know, supposedly it takes the fun out of urban myths like this, but there's really no correlation between the full moon and human activity. Unless your activity relies on the tides somehow.
And not to be a dick, but it's "nabobs".
Like #1 and #2 said, read some science, folks. I know, supposedly it takes the fun out of urban myths like this, but there's really no correlation between the full moon and human activity. Unless your activity relies on the tides somehow.
And not to be a dick, but it's "nabobs".
18
Hmm. I just read the link in #2, and it turns out I was wrong about the moon's effect on the tides! And I freely admit it, because the evidence seems to make sense. Chalk up another one for science - it always has something to teach us!
19
"Science" needs to get laid and relax a little. Geez. You don't have to take the fun out of everything! I like the idea of Eden. I love knowing that there is more to life than what "science" can figure out or explain. And the fact of the matter is, when I'm laying in bed and it's not completely dark and for a few seconds I can't figure out why all the LED is glowing especially bright, and then I realize it's because the moon is full and sending extra light into my bedroom, I do "blame it on the moon."
20
I work in a hospital, and all I'll say for the moment is that in my experience it's usually the couple-three days before or right after the full moon that are most crazy. Sometimes the night of the full moon itself seems like the calm in the eye of the storm with madness on the nights before and following it.
21
I get my period on the full moon, so do other women I know. While the moon may not cause people to go crazy, for accidents to happen, or for parties of 15 to show up unexpectedly at the restaurant you work at, it is a major part of our environment and the natural phenomena we experience and it does affect us. Marine worm swarming patterns are lunar related as well sea turtle hatchings, and I'm sure plenty more animal behavior not to mention tides and excuses to get shit faced.
22
@9, 14, 16 and 19:
Life is only fun when you lie to yourself and others. Message received. No point in finding joy in things that are actually real, it's more fun to make a bunch of shit up and pretend it's real. Just like religion!
Life is only fun when you lie to yourself and others. Message received. No point in finding joy in things that are actually real, it's more fun to make a bunch of shit up and pretend it's real. Just like religion!
25
#22 Right On!
People who think "fun" is making up stupid myths about the moon are an embarrassment, and they're not harmless either... these are exactly the type of stories that people take seriously to the point of going to war or voting against gay marriage. Now if you want to start a tradition where we all go apeshit ON PURPOSE when there's a full moon, now you're talking FUN!
People who think "fun" is making up stupid myths about the moon are an embarrassment, and they're not harmless either... these are exactly the type of stories that people take seriously to the point of going to war or voting against gay marriage. Now if you want to start a tradition where we all go apeshit ON PURPOSE when there's a full moon, now you're talking FUN!
28
@21, your menstrual cycle, despite its name, is not affected by the moon in any way. The near-similarity of the two cycles is whatcha call a coinki-dink and has to do with the body mass of humans. Smaller and larger animals have different estrus cycles.
Think about it: the moon isn't actually getting larger and smaller, or closer and further away, with the new moon and full moon; just the portion of it that's getting sunlight shined on it. The tidal cycle isn't related to the phase of the moon, either -- it happens TWICE A DAY, not twice a month.
Your sofa is exerting many millions of times more tidal force on your uterus than the moon is.
Think about it: the moon isn't actually getting larger and smaller, or closer and further away, with the new moon and full moon; just the portion of it that's getting sunlight shined on it. The tidal cycle isn't related to the phase of the moon, either -- it happens TWICE A DAY, not twice a month.
Your sofa is exerting many millions of times more tidal force on your uterus than the moon is.
31
Fnarf, you condescending middle-aged fart:
"The semidiurnal tidal range (the difference in height between high and low waters over about a half day) varies in a two-week or fortnightly cycle. Around new and full moon when the Sun, Moon and Earth form a line (a condition known as syzygy), the tidal forces due to the Sun reinforce those of the Moon. The tide's range is then maximum: this is called the spring tide, or just springs and is derived not from the season of spring but rather from the verb meaning "to jump" or "to leap up". When the Moon is at first quarter or third quarter, the Sun and Moon are separated by 90° when viewed from the Earth, and the forces induced by the Sun partially cancel those of the Moon. At these points in the lunar cycle, the tide's range is minimum: this is called the neap tide, or neaps. Spring tides result in high waters that are higher than average, low waters that are lower than average, slack water time that is shorter than average and stronger tidal currents than average. Neaps result in less extreme tidal conditions. There is about a seven day interval between springs and neaps.
The changing distance of the Moon from the Earth also affects tide heights. When the Moon is at perigee the range is increased, and when it is at apogee the range is reduced. Every 7½ lunations, perigee coincides with either a new or full moon causing perigean tides with the largest tidal range. If a storm happens to be moving onshore at this time, the consequences (in the form of property damage, etc.) can be especially severe."
-wikipedia's page on tides
1)I have no sofa, no table, chairs, or even bed for that matter, watch yourself when referring to my furniture.
2)I didn't suggest the gravitational pull of the moon was what was causing me to menstruate on the full moon.
The point of my post was that humans have a relationship with the moon like they do all other natural phenomena, such as wind, sunshine, and tsunamis. I pointed out specific animal behaviors that are known to be affected by lunar phases, for reasons we don't yet understand. You conveniently ignored those. The scientific(i.e intellectually curious) mind does not dismiss phenomena with out examination. Science has not yet dismissed the relationship between menses and the moon btw. Neither should you.
More...
"The semidiurnal tidal range (the difference in height between high and low waters over about a half day) varies in a two-week or fortnightly cycle. Around new and full moon when the Sun, Moon and Earth form a line (a condition known as syzygy), the tidal forces due to the Sun reinforce those of the Moon. The tide's range is then maximum: this is called the spring tide, or just springs and is derived not from the season of spring but rather from the verb meaning "to jump" or "to leap up". When the Moon is at first quarter or third quarter, the Sun and Moon are separated by 90° when viewed from the Earth, and the forces induced by the Sun partially cancel those of the Moon. At these points in the lunar cycle, the tide's range is minimum: this is called the neap tide, or neaps. Spring tides result in high waters that are higher than average, low waters that are lower than average, slack water time that is shorter than average and stronger tidal currents than average. Neaps result in less extreme tidal conditions. There is about a seven day interval between springs and neaps.
The changing distance of the Moon from the Earth also affects tide heights. When the Moon is at perigee the range is increased, and when it is at apogee the range is reduced. Every 7½ lunations, perigee coincides with either a new or full moon causing perigean tides with the largest tidal range. If a storm happens to be moving onshore at this time, the consequences (in the form of property damage, etc.) can be especially severe."
-wikipedia's page on tides
1)I have no sofa, no table, chairs, or even bed for that matter, watch yourself when referring to my furniture.
2)I didn't suggest the gravitational pull of the moon was what was causing me to menstruate on the full moon.
The point of my post was that humans have a relationship with the moon like they do all other natural phenomena, such as wind, sunshine, and tsunamis. I pointed out specific animal behaviors that are known to be affected by lunar phases, for reasons we don't yet understand. You conveniently ignored those. The scientific(i.e intellectually curious) mind does not dismiss phenomena with out examination. Science has not yet dismissed the relationship between menses and the moon btw. Neither should you.
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