Creating a Lunar Philosophy: Research Project & Experiments

[raolduke]

I am guessing - that there is some sort of lunar philosophy?
I was hoping on creating a research project similar or finding out about this idea. I was thinking, for the rest of my life I could document each full moon I experience in as much detail as possible.. Besides recording my conscious self I want to try dream interpretation on those occassions too.

I know there is a bit to consider before attempting this experiment and much information to learn about.. So if there is anyone with some criticism or knowledge about this subject please elaborate.

It would also be very awesome if we got a few that want to help.

 

[DrMoreau]

Lunar Philosophy

What makes you think that the full moon has any effect on people (other than making them spend hours setting up large telescopes in extremely cold temperatures just so they can examine the moon at close quarters)? Most stories associated with changes in humans during the full moon are just supersticious. Also, making notes on the effects of the full moon for the rest of your life would be quite a lot of work.

 

[out of whack]

If you restrict your observations to full moons only then you will have nothing to compare these observations against. Plus, whatever you may do and experience on these days will be influenced by the fact that you are busily documenting all that, plus the fact that you are aware of this fact.

To know if there is anything significant enough about full moon days to create your philosophy, you need to compare them to non-full-moon days. You should also do a blind test, i.e. you should not know which day is a full moon and which day is not, otherwise once again your actions and perceptions will be influenced by your knowledge of this fact and its perceived importance.

 

[raolduke]

The reason why I bring this up is because I was out on a night in the middle of the woods and I felt very strange and it turns out it was a full moon. The control is a good idea definitely.. Same as all experiments. Is there any truth to lore about the moon - lunatics, were wolves, that sort of stuff?

 

[deimors]

There are many theologies which look at the moon as a factor in our lives. However, I'm confused as to how this has any bearing on philosophy. A system of beliefs is not philosophy, inasmuch as astrology is not science. Perhaps one of the better definitions I've read is that philosophy is "[t]he methodical and systematic exploration of what we know, how we know it, and why it is important that we know it."

Not to undermine your lunar endeavors, just a bit of food for thought on what philosophy is and is not.

 

[baywax]

I am guessing - that there is some sort of lunar philosophy?
I was hoping on creating a research project similar or finding out about this idea. I was thinking, for the rest of my life I could document each full moon I experience in as much detail as possible.. Besides recording my conscious self I want to try dream interpretation on those occassions too.

I know there is a bit to consider before attempting this experiment and much information to learn about.. So if there is anyone with some criticism or knowledge about this subject please elaborate.

It would also be very awesome if we got a few that want to help.

The fact that the moon tends to either coincide with or actually effect the tides is significant in itself. It would have been a driving force in collecting seafood at one time and of course in navigation and sailing.

Comparing neurological activity during a full moon and a new moon will be a good control as Out Of Whack has offered. My guess is that we as evolving organisms have always been affected by the moon in terms of how its effects change the ocean, seeing as how most life on Earth has arisen from the ocean. So, if there is a lunar philosophy it will be rooted in the primordial experiences we had as slime mould or fish when our oceanic tides began to shift and when they didn't. Or not.

 

[SpitfireAce]

<link deleted>
experiments relating lunar activity to psychic cognition (ESP, Telekinesis, all that junk)

 

[Math Is Hard]

Sorry, everyone, but this just doesn't have anything to do with philosophy. This is folklore, at best.