# How wide discussed is "fan death" as a myth in South Korea? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 22, 2012, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740 "2012-05-22T17:49:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![rogerbox](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/76d3ee/32.png) [@rogerbox](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rogerbox)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/41 "2012-05-24T08:07:56Z")
I know a girl who is fairly bi-cultural between U.S. and Korea (born in Korea) and I asked her about fan death shortly after I heard about it since I had a hard time believing such an advanced country could believe something so ridiculous. She said she’d heard of it, and she _guessed_ it didn’t make much sense, but she seemed hesitant to directly contradict something Koreans just “know”. It’s not quite on fan death level but I was told in the Philippines not to work out within some arbitrary time after eating, or else I would get a hernia. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/42 "2012-05-24T08:17:52Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Right, I kind of figured Korea would have a bunch of people saying the same kind of thing regarding fan death. Koreans are all about (false) humility. It’s not good form to tell someone they’re wrong about something, especially if they’re older than you. In general, Koreans believe that “cold” things aren’t good for you (especially for women). For example, women are discouraged from sitting on cold surfaces because apparently it’s bad for your lady bits. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 10:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/43 "2012-05-24T10:15:32Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > I’ve definitely heard of the idea that a fan blowing on you for extended periods can cause the sniffles, but fan death is quite a leap to make. And there’s a reason for that belief–a fan can dry you out by increasing evaporation, and being dried out can make you feel a little sniffly for a bit. In fact, I wondered if that, combined with the increased mortality for common illnesses in the past might have led to the assumption. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/44 "2012-05-24T12:01:46Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > Koreans are all about (false) humility. It’s not good form to tell someone they’re wrong about something, especially if they’re older than you. In the book [Outliers](http://www.amazon.com/Outliers-Story-Success-Malcolm-Gladwell/dp/0316017930/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1337860138&sr=8-1), Gladwell devotes a chapter to the story of Korean Airlines, which had a hideously high accident rate prior to the late 1990’s. A significant part of the problem was the authority structure intrinsic to Korean culture: whereas other airlines had been implementing [crew resource management](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crew_resource_management), in the cockpit of KAL airplanes the captain had the status of a god, and his crew dared not question his authority or judgment, even if they felt the safety of the plane was in imminent jeopardy. Some time in the late 1990’s (don’t remember exactly when), KAL radically modified their air crew training program, in part to overcome this aspect of Korean culture; KAL is now one of the safest airlines in the world. A long highjack - sorry - but it underscores the fact that, yes, there is a power/authority structure in Korean culture that inhibits information flow in bad ways. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/45 "2012-05-24T12:43:33Z")
Scoff and call it a myth if you want, but it has been proven that Rebecca Schaeffer was a victim of fan death _and it occurred in the US!_ ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/46 "2012-05-24T13:15:35Z")
What about the old saw that swimming after eating will make you cramp up and drown? Is that comaprable? ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/47 "2012-05-24T13:15:37Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > I’ve heard of leaving out milk and cookies for Santa…but who are these little people? Should I be concerned? The Fey people, the Fae, those who live Underhill… sheesh, woman, I’m from Spain and I know a bunch of English names for them! (In the parts of Spain with more celtic blood, you’re supposed to leave milk near the cooking fire, not outside) ---
**Author:** ![hibernicus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hibernicus/32/2802_2.png) [@hibernicus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hibernicus)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/48 "2012-05-24T13:21:03Z")
> [@jovan](#): > > Actually, it’s a poor comparison. It’s a common meme on these boards that exposure to cold does not cause colds or flu, but that’s a simplistic view that is not shared by all experts. Even if you reject the claims by the authors of the papers below, they put forward proper hypotheses. Fan death proponents? Not so much. Thanks for the interesting data points. From what I have read here I thought it was a settled question. However, for the purposes of this thread, it doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not. It was intended as an example of a belief that people would continue to hold, even if it were comprehensively shown to be untrue. The problem with finding a better example is that, if there is one, you and I probably believe it just as strongly as those Koreans believe in fan death, so it wouldn’t occur to us to posit it as an example! Anyway, the larger point being that it’s easy to point at “those crazy Koreans” but maybe we all have irrational but unshakeable beliefs. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/49 "2012-05-24T13:41:06Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > What about the old saw that swimming after eating will make you cramp up and drown? Is that comaprable? Yes, another example where there is a reasonably well-informed minority that “fights ignorance” on it by pointing out that it is false. The very group I’m inquiring about in Korea regarding fan death. Do we have any Korean Dopers? I mean, my children are from Korea, but are Americans and don’t speak Korean. I’m talking about Korean as in someone in Korea or who primarily has lived there and experienced this from the Korean perspective. We’d love to hear from you. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/50 "2012-05-24T13:42:07Z")
Also, is “fan death” a good example of a genuine meme, since it is spread through the culture and we don’t know the exact origin of it? ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/51 "2012-05-24T13:43:34Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Scoff and call it a myth if you want, but it has been proven that Rebecca Schaeffer was a victim of fan death _and it occurred in the US!_ Wow. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/52 "2012-05-24T13:46:01Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > In general, Koreans believe that “cold” things aren’t good for you (especially for women). For example, women are discouraged from sitting on cold surfaces because apparently it’s bad for your lady bits. Likewise, that’s also believed in China. Or at least by my wife. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/53 "2012-05-24T13:50:53Z")
I don’t know about death, but whenever I’ve slept with a fan blowing directly on me, I have woken up with a very bad case of stiff neck. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Antibob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/54 "2012-05-24T14:45:57Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > Scoff and call it a myth if you want, but it has been proven that Rebecca Schaeffer was a victim of fan death _and it occurred in the US!_ I thought it was a bad idea to put a gun on my fan. Now I know why. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/55 "2012-05-24T15:17:17Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Yes, another example where there is a reasonably well-informed minority that “fights ignorance” on it by pointing out that it is false. The very group I’m inquiring about in Korea regarding fan death. > > Do we have any Korean Dopers? I mean, my children are from Korea, but are Americans and don’t speak Korean. I’m talking about Korean as in someone in Korea or who primarily has lived there and experienced this from the Korean perspective. > > We’d love to hear from you. 🙂 Dude, I am a Korean living in Korea. Do you have me on ignore or something? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/56 "2012-05-24T16:56:53Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > Dude, I am a Korean living in Korea. Do you have me on ignore or something? Sorry, my bad. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/57 "2012-05-24T17:07:18Z")
> [@HazelNutCoffee](#): > > Certainly it’s common for Western teachers to rant about the topic to their students. Fan death was the example I used with my advanced class to discuss the fallacies of cum hoc and post hoc. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/58 "2012-05-24T17:31:51Z")
Korean in Korea reporting in. Never knew fan death was such a hot topic for foreigners. It’s not as big of a deal as some of you seem to think. It’s not “NEVER leave the fan on or you’ll DIE!” but more like “probably not too healthy to sleep with the fan blowing on you and maybe kill you. Probably not, but why risk it?” Kind of like superstition. You could probably walk under that ladder without any ill effect, but it’s not that much trouble to just walk around it. To me it feels like a good rally point for westerners in Korea to feel smug and laugh at the silly Koreans and their fan death. Meh. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/59 "2012-05-24T17:32:52Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > (In the parts of Spain with more celtic blood, you’re supposed to leave milk near the cooking fire, not outside) Well, OF COURSE! You want them to warm their toes while they drink the milk. I thought EVERYBODY knew that. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2012, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740/60 "2012-05-24T19:59:26Z")
> [@Grey\_area](#): > > Never knew fan death was such a hot topic for foreigners… It’s not a hot topic for foreigners. I would guess the vast majority of foreigners are unaware of it. I wouldn’t base any evaluation of foreigners on this thread alone. We’re like…a very, very thin minority. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-wide-discussed-is-fan-death-as-a-myth-in-south-korea/622740.md?page=4)