Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Freaka]

So, I just finished grilling my Korean cousin about fan death and this is more or less how our conversation went. Fyi, my cousin's English isn't perfect, so I've taken some liberties with her words in order to better convey what she meant:

Me: J, do you believe in fan death?

Cousin: Yes! Of course!

Me: Really?

Cousin: Of course!

Me: Well, did you know that Koreans are the only people that believe in fan death?

Cousin: Huh?

Me: Don't take this the wrong way, but nearly everyone else in all the other countries don't believe in fan death. It's a myth, an urban legend.

So I explained to her what an urban legend is and then went on the website, fandeath.net and read to her, "The only country to believe in fan death is South Korea."

My cousin was genuinely surprised and had a very puzzled look on her face.

Me: Why do you believe in fan death?

Cousin: Because it's true...people die from fans in Korea all the time.

Me: But J, there's no proof that fans can cause death unless you're actually in direct contact with the fan.

Cousin: No. When I sleep with the fan on and it's close to my face, sometimes I can't breathe. It's true.

Me: But J, you still won't die from the fan.

Cousin: But we hear stories of people who die from fan death all the time. I see reports on TV about fan death and there are stories in the newspapers as well.

Me: Then why are Koreans the only people who believe in it?

Cousin: I don't know. I didn't know this before. (pause) Maybe because many Koreans sleep on the floor and the fan is blowing in their face...

Me: Yeah, but then why don't the Japanese and Chinese believe in fan death? They sleep on the floor, too...

The conversation continued on like this until she decided to go on some Korean websites to find out what others were saying about the subject.

Cousin: Well, the main argument seems to be that other countries just aren't aware of the potential dangers.

Me: But that's just so silly! Why would only Koreans die of fan death?

Cousin: And the main reasons people think that the fans are dangerous is because fans cause body temperatures to be lowered...and they also suffocate people. A lot of drunk ahjuhshees in Korea die of fan death.

Me: Well, maybe their deaths weren't caused by the fans...maybe they died because of the alcohol in their system or because of the toll that their drinking had taken on their bodies over the years.

Cousin: Yeah, but they still wouldn't have died if the fan wasn't in the room. Some of them were so drunk that they couldn't move and got suffocated to death.

Me: So, you don't think it's strange that only Koreans believe in fan death?

Cousin: No, it is weird.

Me: But you still believe in it, right?

Cousin: Of course!

Anyway, I didn't want to insult her, so I stopped the conversation there. Plus, I was more curious about her reasons for believing in fan death!

[chasmmi]

I don't know if it's true there to the same degree but my Japanese ex did not like me keeping a fan on at night because it was dangerous and she'd never been to Korea.


Was pretty gullible though so may well have believed it when a Korean told her as opposed to it being a Japanese belief also.

[Freaka]

[RACETRAITOR]

It has spread from Korea. There are some Japanese who believe it, but I'm still sure they got it somehow from Koreans. You could expect it to be common also in countries where Korean companies have a heavy presence and employ the locals.

What I'm surprised about your exchange is she didn't ever try to explain why fans kill you. Most Koreans have their own theory about how it is deadly, and they base it on a flimsy view of science.

[chasmmi]

The big question in my eyes is why fan death only happens in the one country where people open windows when they use a fan.

Maybe its the circulation that actually kills. Closing windows saves lives people!

[normalcyispasse]

Didn't Mythbusters do an episode on this? FAN DEATH IS A MYTH. It is completely and utterly contrived. Hypothermia? Oh geez.

Well, let's look at it this way. For one, your body radiates heat. For another, for hypothermia to occur your internal body temperature would have to be below 30C. You'll note that a fan can only lower your perceived temperature by a couple degrees.

Furthermore, a fan doesn't change AIR temperature at all. This is the reason we have things like wind chill factors; the movement of air doesn't change its temperature, only our perception.

Sucking oxygen away? Again, no. That doesn't make sense. For one, a room fan pushes air *towards* you; an exhaust fan, if anything, would be responsible for suffocation. Fans don't REMOVE air, they circulate it. To suffocate, the fan would have to actually create a vacuum or a near-vacuum. You'll note that this is impossible in an open-air (that is, non-pumped) environment.

The physics of the thing demonstrate that fan death is absolutely impossible. If you need another anecdote, my cat loves to lick the dust from the vents of the fan while it's on. Now, a tiny kitty who takes tiny little cat breaths just licking away at the intake side of the fan (which should be the side able to be deadly) in an enclosed room doesn't seem to much mind the Korean myth of fan death. . . but maybe that's because he's waiting to kill me in my sleep.

[normalcyispasse]

Also: It's the 21st century. WHY are we still discussing this?!

[Freaka]

[Freaka]

[fandeath]

I haven't updated my site in about 3 years.

Fan Death occurs in many nations, not just Korea..or Asian ones.

Sorry to spread ignorance.

[yingwenlaoshi]

You can equate it all to your 5 million Won salary.

[Freaka]

[Freaka]

[yingwenlaoshi]

[Freaka]