A friend of yours is convinced of the influence of the Moon on everyday human af
ID: 296573 • Letter: A
Question
A friend of yours is convinced of the influence of the Moon on everyday human affairs. He cites a supposed correlation between crime and the occurrence of a full moon as proof. He even speculates that the gravitational influence of the Moon is the mechanism by noting that it is the gravitational pull of the Moon that causes the tides. "After all", he argues, "as over half a human's weight is water, the Moon must affect the flow of blood in human beings!" How would you explain to your friend that this analogy, between the ocean tides and water in the human body, is profoundly flawed. Are there any alternate explanations for a link between moon phase and crime?
Explanation / Answer
We can explain this analogy if we can make our friend realize the relative size of earth compared to human being. Tidal force on the earth is so weak but as we are so small, we could observe the actions of moon. In case of human beings that force acting on us by moon will be very minute that mosquito cannot even notice the change. Tides are seen in oceans but we cannot see tidal force in small wells as they are small to show the result which in turn can explain analogy in case of human beings too. So our friend's misconception is answered by solving this analogy. There might be some chance of link between moon phase and crime. Like when it is new moon day darkness can help the people committing crimes by making them totally difficult to find. Epileptic behavior due to full moon occurs in some people who might get robbed by thieves. Or even in full moon day we can get a nice sleep which makes us unaware of surroundings which might help crimes happen unnoticedly.