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Old 08-10-2007, 02:21 PM   #11 (permalink)
Matthew Shea
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Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Detroit
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My mom's best friend was an ER nurse for many years. She swears, like many fellow nurses, that the ER was always much more active when the full moon was out.

Personally, I think there's something to it, but I think the explanation lies in the subtle power of myths and legends and how they influence our behavior. People are taught, rightly or wrongly, that the full moon has special powers to transform otherwise normal people into wearwolves and other such things. Subconsiously, they buy into that thinking and behave accordingly when there's a full moon.

There's also the fact that, once your eyes adjust, there's plenty of light to see when a full moon's out. That's especially true if it's winter and the ground is coated with snow. My fraternity used to hold a "capture the flag" game in some woods behind the campus at night as part of pledge initiation. We never had trouble seeing. It almost seemed like daylight when there was snow on the ground.
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