This week, I will continue to look at some of the most popular myths about the moon. As I was going through the paces of research, I realized that many moon myths are based on solar myths as well, so I may look at those next week. The first issue that I wish to tackle (and I am surprised that I haven’t looked at this earlier) is the assumption that the full moon produces lunacy or odd behavior in people. In fact, the term “lunacy” has lunar roots; the OED states, “The condition of being a lunatic; intermittent insanity such as was formerly supposed to be brought about by the changes of the moon; now applied gen. to any form of insanity (idiocy usually excepted). In legal use, such mental unsoundness as interferes with civil rights or transactions. Also, a fit or attack of such insanity.” The earliest mention of lunacy being used in this manner dates from around the 1550s, so the idea is not necessarily ancient, but it is old, and I feel that it is ingrained in part of our American cultural history. After all, whenever there is a full moon and odd behavior occurs, it is almost necessary to mention the connection. Modern science has debunked many of these psychological impacts of the moon on the mind; the most popular example of this kind of pseudo-science is to be found in Arnold Lieber’s best-seller “Lunar Effects: Biological Tides and Human Emotions.” This book strove to form the connection between the moon and psychological effects. In 1998, Lieber did actually predict a situation in which, as he put it, “All hell broke loose” in Miami, but that was only after two failed predictions in 1990 and 1992 (check here for source and full article).

What are the facts? Here’s a pretty good site that is sponsored by the fine people at NASA and covers many of the facts that missions to the moon have revealed. Rather than try and pick and choose which facts I think are interesting, I highly encourage you to browse through the site (particularly the section with photos) to learn about what our space program has discovered about that celestial object. Also, I think that this site is useful in looking to debunk some popular myths that get bandied about regarding the moon, which leads me to the next moon myth (though I suppose that this is really a Mars myth).

One of the myths about the moon that circulated recently throughout the internet is that Mars was going to be the closest to Earth than it had been in 50,000 years (though how that number got created is beyond me) and that it would appear to be the size of the moon. If this was actually the case, it would mean that the solar system as we know it would be falling apart. Furthermore, though the effects of gravity from the moon are negligible on human beings, they are readily felt on the ocean and land masses. The moon has a pretty significant mass (.07349x10^24kgs), and Mars is no lightweight either (6.4185x10^23kgs), and though the moon is only about half of the diameter of the moon, the impact of that much mass circling around the earth with the combined gravitational force of the moon would reek utter havoc on the Earth from its rotation to its orbit around the sun to its weather in general. (NASA) In short, life as we know it would cease to exist. Yet, this email was widely circulated and bought by the majority of people. The truth is that this myth was widely popularized because of the lack of understanding regarding celestial objects and how they function. Perhaps this is the greatest sign that we have really let our national interest in the space above us dwindle to dark shadows of ignorance.

The final myth I want to tackle in this post (because there are a lot of people that still feel this way) is the infamous faked moon landing myth. Now, rather than try to outdo the infamous Mythbusters TM episode, I thought I’d just go ahead and upload a few videos that reference their work. I think that this is probably one of the most debated issues, and I have read that the Mythbusters’ findings are still being questioned by parts of the population. Here is a link to a New York Times article that represents a group of people who are still unconvinced that the moon landing occurred.

Extra-Sensory Perception. The term itself is somewhat questionable and offers some troubling connotations. A simple glance for synonyms on the internet yields the following busload of equally troubling terms: clairvoyance, extrasensory perception, insight, mind-reading, parapsychology, premonition, presentiment, second sight, sixth sense, spiritualism, telepathic transmission, telesthesia, and thought transference. Some of these terms offer nothing in the way of clarity, but there are some words and phrases there that offer an opening for understanding.

A workable definition for perception from the Princeton Online Dictionary defines it as “the ability to become aware of something via the senses.” The most relevant part of this definition is the final phrase: “via the senses.” People are created almost identical in terms of genetic, but they are far from alike in terms of ability. Some people are born without a sense of sight. Some people are born without a sense of hearing. Some people have a limited sense of smell. Some people can not feel even their own limbs. Some people can cognate faster than others. The simple fact is that some people are gifted with senses that are beyond the usual scope of humankind. These people, by definition of the average human with average senses, would possess extrasensory perception.

In searching for a better definition, I encountered that which was presented in the Oxford English Dictionary (OED): “Of perception: made by other means than those of the known sense-organs, e.g. by telepathy, clairvoyance, etc.; hence, received by such means; of or pertaining to the study of such perception. (extra-sensory perception is often abbreviated to E.S.P., ESP.).” Accompanying this definition, are some examples of usage that appeared in text; J. B. Rhine coined the phrase in this passage, “J. B. RHINE Extra-Sensory Perception (1935) p. xxx, Let us merely say..‘perception by means that are outside of the recognized senses’, and indicate this meaning by ‘Extra-Sensory Perception’ or E.S.P.” J.B. Rhine is a prominent figure to check out when discussing the paranormal in any detail. More information will follow in a separate blog post about this particularly interesting fellow. But the term extra-sensory perception is still quite a modern term (as you can see from above, the initial date and usage of the phrase is 1935). I think it is worth the time and trouble to see if we can find a definition that goes back a little further than that. The term that I will focus on for this post will be clairvoyance.

Clairvoyance is an older term, but still retains a pretty modern meaning. One of the definitions from the OED that I find particularly interesting states, “Keenness of mental perception, clearness of insight; insight into things beyond the range of ordinary perception.” This is completely synonymous with the definition presented above for extra-sensory perception. Here is an interesting example of the usage of clairvoyance: “1884 SYMONDS Shaks. Predec. ii. §19. 79 What may be called..clairvoyance in dramatic matters. Ibid. 81 This clairvoyance gave them insight into things beyond their own experience. Shakespeare painted much that he had never seen.” I believe that Symonds offers a very touching interpretation of what clairvoyance can be taken to stand for in the harsh world of the social norm that we find ourselves in.

In popular culture, there are all sorts of characters that have specially designed powers that are based on the criteria stated above. A few that come to mind are Daredevil, Spiderman, Master-Chief, and Wonder-Woman. But other than thinking that extra-sensory perception is just related to fiction, I feel that Symonds offers us a way to look into our world today and note those that are able to capture expressions that others miss. Essentially, I feel that the above delving into the word “extra-sensory perception” (which, mind, I know is a very shallow delve), offers us to see ESP as an appreciation of something that is often missed. In an artistic sense, this discussion should give you a reason to appreciate any time a person gives an insight that most of us would have otherwise missed, through any medium. But, I think we can also think of ways in which technology can give us a boost with perception.

The most recognizable form of extra-sensory perception that people in this generation would recognize is night-vision goggles. These goggles do exactly what the information above describes; they give a person the ability to have a perception that is beyond the norm. How do night vision goggles work? You can check this link out for the specifics, or you can trust me when I say that night-vision has amazing properties. Essentially there are two major forms of night vision: image enhancement which uses light, even lower portions of the infrared light spectrum, or thermal imaging which detects the upper portion of the infrared spectrum and displays the natural heat emitted by objects. But that is precisely what the issue is here. These magic goggles can let you see in the dark with amazing clarity. They let you perceive what was otherwise un-perceivable. Obviously, this power can put you at great advantage in a combat situation, but are there other purposes to this kind of perception? Can we expect cars to have light amplification night-driving modes in the future? Lightweight versions that fit like sunglasses and can be fitted into common frames for outdoor use? Or is this power to great for common people to posses? Is it something that we need to perceive for our armed elite?

In this example, you can see that the military uses night vision to both find their enemy more effectively, but also to avoid certain targets that otherwise would have been covered with an insane amount of lead and explosives. I don’t want to mislead anyone though, misdirection is another trick that is often employed when people have superior technologies. Since the time of the Trojan War, people have been duping other people with superior technology. Here is a picture of a wooden German tank during World War II that was meant to waste allied munitions, gasoline, and supplies in general in pursuing their destruction. This reminds me of an old Chinese proverb, “he who knows his heart mistrusts his eyes.” Other ways of extra-sensory perception can be devices that we don’t necessarily consider extrodinary anymore, but they do enhance our natural senses. An obvious device that enhances our speech is a microphone. It’s not unusual anymore, but think of the implications that this device had with it when it was first introduced. The ability to amplify the human voice so that it carried to the ears of thousands instead of hundreds. There are probably hundreds of examples, but I feel that these are a few of the places you can justly defend calling “extra-sensory perceptions.”