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The Moon Effect

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Main Body The Earth 's moon is the only moon that orbits around our planet, and there is no life on it, from what scientist has found. The word lunar derives from the Latin word lunaticus, which means to be moon-struck. This word, in turn, also is the derivation of the word lunatic which is used to describe a mentally ill person, or a person that is deranged or dangerous. So, with these definitions it is not hard to believe that there are people who believe in the lunar effect. The lunar effect is the belief that the moon 's phases have an effect on human behavior and mental health (The Lunar Effect,. n.d). The lunar effect is said to be the reason people commit murders, suicide, traffic accidents, fights, and other erratic behaviors, …show more content…

So, the main question is, is the lunar effect a pseudoscience or a science. To answer this a person must first ask themselves, can this idea be processed through the scientific method. The method consists of making a hypothesis, testing a hypothesis with an experiment, observing the experiment, collecting data, and then concluding whether the hypothesis was a correct one due to the data you collected and observed. Well, the hypothesis for the overall lunar effect would be that the moon affects human behavior in multiple ways including fertility, behavior itself, menstruation, sleep, and other actions of human life. It sounds like a very scientific idea, but a person could not test most of the notions mentioned. How would a person be able to tell, that a moon phase made a person want to murder someone. The murderer wouldn 't be able to tell you that. The murderer would say that they had a motive, and with that motive, they went forward with the crime. So, where does that leave the lunar effect? The lunar effect has not been proven by anyone or any institution, and has been played off by most …show more content…

Over the years there have been many beliefs that the moon affects humans in many ways. Most of them are coincidences and luck, or bad luck for others. For example, experts at Urbino University found a high number of babies being born two days after a full moon over the course of three years (Brady, 2009). Also, Indian scientist found that women who ovulate during a full moon are more likely to have boys. How can we explain this? Maybe a person could run an experiment on gestation periods and find out when a woman is due and then look at the moon cycle, but it still wouldn 't be the cause of the delivery, it would be luck or just coincidences when a woman gives birth on that day. Maybe the baby was ready to be delivered, maybe she had to be induced into labor, or maybe she was premature, but whatever the matter is, could someone prove that a pregnancy ended due to the moon?

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