Comment by lqet | Hacker News Reader

Comment by lqet | Hacker News Reader

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I am endlessly fascinated by the effect your birth month may have on you. It begins with trivial things: if you are born in summer, then by the time you are 6 months old and have developed a vague awareness of your world, "going out" means adding uncomfortably many layers of clothing and being tossed into a cold and harsh environment. Whereas if you are born in winter, your first real playtime outside is a warm and wonderful experience, with flowers and butterflies and soft grass.

But the effect on your personality may go beyond this [0]:

> The season in which babies are born can have a dramatic effect on their future risk relating to the development of conditions such as neurological disorders, including seasonal affective disorder, bipolar depression, schizophrenia and type I diabetes. Research has shown that the season a baby is born in can have a major effect on whether or not they will become a heavy smoker.

> The risk of suicide increases by 17% for people born in the spring–early summer compared with those born in the autumn–early winter

Our daughter sleeps better and longer in winter, because it gets dark early - so her birth month correlates with the amount of sleep she got in certain stages of development during the last years.

In past ages, the birth month also directly influenced how much (and what kind of) food was available in certain stages of development.

This may sound esoteric, but I really think there is some deep truth in attributing personality traits to astrological signs.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Influence_of_seasonal_birth_in...

How could there not be any truth to it?

It's like when people talk about "lunacy" i.e. the moon influencing human behavior. The moon causes the tides and we're 60% water; how could it not have some effect?

> "lunacy" i.e. the moon influencing human behavior.

Is that seriously the etymology of that word? If so, that is absolutely fascinating.

The tidal effect of the moon on the human body is tiny compared to the other forces at play.

People simply don’t like admitting that they are not fully in control of themselves.

The tides work because water flows across the surface of the rigid Earth. You have a body that holds your water in, and a far more massive, much closer object than the moon, exerting far, far more gravitational pull on you than the moon.

Also, the moon is approximately the same every day (but higher or lower in the sky). It looks different on different days due to shadows, not gravity.

> This may sound esoteric, but I really think there is some deep truth in attributing personality traits to astrological signs.

Then it ought to be provable, no need to guess.

Personality traits are not mentioned in your references wiki article.

There are plenty of counter examples of other people who are born in the same month than me who are totally different.

There is also a huge difference how people handle sickness like the ones mentioned in the wik article.

The origin of those signs are also totally different and are pure fiction

>There are plenty of counter examples of other people who are born in the same month than me who are totally different.

That's irrelevant though. He didn't say it is a law of nature that forces development in the same exact way. Just that it's a factor.

What is the concern is how a statistically significant part of those born at X months are affected, compared to those being born at Y months.

Not whether there are exceptions. Of course there will be. People being the same in both groups might even be the majority. But one group (say "born in spring-summer ) having 17% more of something compared to the other is a big thing, and that's whats considered here - even if the rest 83% are the same on that aspect.

There are statistics for these things. Counter examples just means they’re somewhere else in the distribution.

He doesn't have a statistics for what he claims as the wiki article is making a different point.

They didn't claim that these things were true, they said that they're "endlessly fascinated by the effect your birth month may have on you"

That implies things which I countered.

What's the problem?

Now ponder the effects of all unhealthy food you will stuff in her and which modern society will make her effectively addicted to! Whatever effect the weather has pales in comparison.

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