There was an amazing full moon the other night. It hovered near the horizon, enormous and shrouded with dark wisps of cloud. It was hard to miss, partly because of its size, but mostly because people talked about it all day.
Me: “Yawn, didn’t sleep well last night.” Others: “Full moon.” Me: “Why is everyone so frickin’ grumpy today?” Others: “Full moon.” Me: “I thought this was the cheap day for petrol…” Others: “Full moon.”
It’s disconcerting having these vaguely pagan excuses gravitating around everything, just because the moon is in a particular alignment with the Earth. And I have to confess to a wave of supercilious contempt each time it happened.
Why do people need to fill in their gaps of understanding with such rubbish? Why do they seem so smug about it, and so sure?
Every now and then a study shows the effect of a full moon. Higher than average dog bites. More episodes in mental health facilities, more suicides. Two-headed calves and the like.
Ancient wisdom suggested that the amount of water in the brain rendered it susceptible to the moon’s effects, a miniature tide in the cranium.
Science quickly debunked this idea, with brainiacs keen to point out that a mosquito on the arm or a book in the hand exert more gravitational pull than the far away hunk of proverbial cheese.
Meta-analyses of dozens of studies show that there is no evidence that a full moon has an effect on lunacy, crime, or hirsuteness levels.
A common explanation for the strength of the belief in the lunar effect is that people are keenly looking out for different phenomenon that they can eagerly attach to the moon. See a car crash while the moon is full? The full moon caused it.
We humans search for patterns, we’re hardwired that way.
But is there more to it than that?
I was driving home, weaving through the Adelaide Hills. That blowsy moon changed the quality of the light, throwing strange shadows through the valleys. It appeared on one side of the road, then the other as the road twisted through the darkness. And it does sort of make one want to light a bonfire and dance around it.
We’ve cemented the full moon in our imagination. It’s everywhere, in many different cultures. It has a symbolic strength. And I’m a little concerned that as we descend into this new era where pseudoscience is king, the lunacy effect will become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
If people ever do go a little crazy around a full moon, it’s because they connect the idea of a full moon with going a little crazy. Feedback effect.
Then, of course, there is the tweeny Twilight phenomenon, where grown people are refreshing their memories of werewolf mythology, creatures of the night. The moon has a new romance.
This is something that I sometimes think has already happened with astrology signs. People are told from birth that they are a certain sign. Parents discuss the typically Sagittarian characteristics of their newborns, youngsters read their daily horoscope. Magazines endlessly give people a set of attributes that appear to be theirs and theirs alone.
So they grow up believing that they are extroverts, introverts, strong or sweet. Destined for greatness or big love or lifetime loyalty. And if you truly believe that’s what you are, isn’t it more likely you will consciously or subconsciously stick to that framework?
This is why believing that objects in the solar system – be it the moon or the stars – affect your personality is a dangerous falsehood. People get mired in mythology and misunderstand the essence of cause and effect.
So they change their behaviour based on a belief in bullshit, and that’s never a good idea.
I can’t back up this idea of a feedback effect – it’s just that, an idea.
But I’m a Leo, so I’m sure I’m right.
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