And the moon sinks low in Scorpio

[venta]

This is something I've been meaning to experiment with for ages, but never got round to. I've just been reminded of it, because someone posted on a thread elsewhere with the assumption that "birthdays are randomly distributed" - which I've always assumed they're not. For a start, there's always a bit of a clump of birthdays round February/March, which I've always blamed on people having early summer holidays in June.

Now, I'm assuming that unlike, say, musical taste, incidence of birthdays among my friends list will at least be representative of the population as a whole. If not, then we're into the suggestion that being born in a particular month predisposes you to particular behaviours and that smacks of astrology, so I don't like it.

(Yes, I know there are other non-astrological factors which might be relevant, but let's give it a whirl, shall we?)



You're getting no tickyboxes for this, dammit, it's radio or nothing. I refuse to allow people to be born in more than one month.

[Poll #424559]

Comments

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

It does? What differences does it normally make?

(You'd think I'd know this sort of thing...)

Though it's still related to seasonal factors, such as the cut-off date after which you go into the next year's class :)

[venta.livejournal.com]

Yup, that was the main one I was thinking about.

Y'see, I was always the absolute youngest I could be to be in my class - born Aug 31st. You many consider this explains a lot :)

[verlaine.livejournal.com]

Heehee, all your readers are earth signs!

[venta.livejournal.com]

I believe the theory is that how old you are when you first go to school affects your ability to learn/keep up with the class. Some people are over five when they first go to school, I was barely four and a half - and a six month lag at that age is quite significant.

If you went to school in Durham LEA, you went into exactly the class for your age range - if you were way ahead or way behind at any stage, it was just tough.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Trust an Inferno GM to notice that :)

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Only if the term 'earth signs' has been redefined recently to include Libra, Scorpio and Saggitarius.

Which it may have been. I wouldn't put anything past those Virgoans.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Mmm. With November 12th I was generally the youngest in my class. Also, of course, way ahead of the rest in pretty much everything. I hate to think how bored I'd've got if I'd been one of the oldest.

[venta.livejournal.com]

Eh ? Does Scotland have a different cut-off date from civilisation, then ? The cut-off date is Aug 31/Sep 1 in England - so November would have made you one of the eldest.

What is the difference between eldest and oldest, anyway ?

[lizardwatcher.livejournal.com]

Not only learning abilities, but social status - little kids are bastards, and will often set great store by whether they're older or younger than someone else in their class.

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Scotland does, indeed, have a different cut-off date, though don't ask me what it is.

And I think the difference between eldest and oldest is the extra little curve on the bottom of the first letter.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

I think it's pretentious to use "eldest" to mean "oldest".

So "oldest" means the one who's the most old, and eldest means the one to the left of the dealer. Although arguably that usage might be pretentious too.

[hoiho.livejournal.com]

Scotland have a different cut-off date

I believe it's sometime in early March, as both my daughters, born on March and May, are amongst the oldest in their respective classes. Although, poking round the web, it seems that it's variable, depending on the education authorities' whim, but it's always sometime in February-March.

November?

[wimble.livejournal.com]

There's bugger all else to do in those cold winter evenings!

[lnr]

I don't *think* I ever did that. Born in November I was usually one of the older kids in any class, though not necessarily the oldest.

[al-fruitbat.livejournal.com]

If not, then we're into the suggestion that being born in a particular month predisposes you to particular behaviours and that smacks of astrology, so I don't like it.

Er... being born in a particular time of year emphatically does predispose you to particular behaviours, doesn't it? I thought it was the only reasonable explanation for Astrology there was going...

Admittedly, in the last 50 years or so the most obvious yearly variation of diet in the western world has rather homogenised, since nowadays you can bring up kids on pizza, sunny delight and chips all year round, but things like day length, external temperature and so on must still have quite a developmental effect. Or at least, I've always thought so...

[venta.livejournal.com]

I don't think I ever suffered from that - possibly because I had an elder brother[*] in the year above, who would have squashed anyone who tried. Since I went to a tiny school with mixed-age classes, he was in the same class as me for the first two years, too.

[*]Actually, I didn't. I'm an only child. But most people thought he was my brother. And he would have squashed them anyway.

Re: November?

[venta.livejournal.com]

Well, February is a famously boring month, yes!

Re: November?

[lnr]

And it's about 9 months after Valentines day.

Peaks in my friends are in October and May, according to:

http://www.livejournal.com/birthdays.bml

though the most popular single say is apparently January 13th.

[beckyc.livejournal.com]

Well, I know quite a lot of people with the same birthday as me (September 29th). Nine months after Xmas/New year. Hmm.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

Depends on whether your explanation for the disposition is "was fundementally influenced by very weak gravity fields at the instant of birth, but at no other time (either previously or subsequently)", or other more "realistic" social and environmental influences, such as the oldest/youngest in class; seasonal dietary effects or simply getting fed up with their birthday always being on Christmas Day!

[kneeshooter]

Although I was born in November - I was moved up a year at age (something small) so was always the youngest in my class all the way through.

Not sure what that's supposed to mean mind...

[venta.livejournal.com]

there's always a bit of a clump of birthdays round February/March

I think all the Pisceans are deliberately avoiding filling in this poll just to make me look stupid. Bastards.

[onebyone.livejournal.com]

the only reasonable explanation for Astrology

Does astrology require a reasonable explanation? For example, does it make any verifiable claims about birthday-dependent personality characteristcs?

things like day length, external temperature and so on must still have quite a developmental effect.

Do you mean that it's entirely plausible that they would have an effect, or that you'd be extremely surprised if there weren't any (observable) effects?

Some more data points...

[lanfykins.livejournal.com]

Birth month	Number	Projected conception month
January	8	April
February	6	May
March	11	June
April	8	July
May	9	August
June	7	September
July	5	October
August	5	November
September	9	December
October	5	January
November	6	February
December	3	March

And yes, this does leave out the roleplaying characters' birthdays :)

My friends seem to follow the opposite trends to yours, which is odd as some of them are the same people.

[al-fruitbat.livejournal.com]

No, not gravity (although I refer the honourable gentleman to the lunatic argument about tides for a good laugh about that one ;-) but yes to seasonal dietary effects, amount of time playing outside & conditions of same, exposure to pathogens & parasites on a yearly basis as well as basic fundamentals like day length & amount of daylight.