Current Events > Korean fan death is when prolonged fan use kills you according to superstition

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

Fan death is a belief that running an electric fan in a closed room with unopened or no windows will cause death. While no concrete evidence supports the concept, belief in fan death persisted to the early 2000s in South Korea,[1][2][3] and also to a lesser extent in Japan.

Has anybody actually tested this before? Maybe it's hot enough for some people to want to try sleeping by a fan, but I'm worried that they may not be able to report the results if they actually die from it.

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I slept in doors windows closed with the fan on probably most of my life

No, you dont fucking die from it. Really?

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slk_23 posted...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fan_death

Has anybody actually tested this before?

Yes. Basically it's bullshit and long term a fan will actually heat up a well insulated room with no ventilation.

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I mean I lived there during the period, and it mostly came down to "don't leave the fan on when you go to sleep." This gives credence to the theory of a govt effort to curb energy usage (since Korea was still relatively poor at the time). It wasn't like a big thing, even though I feel a lot of people in the US for whatever reason loves talking about this more than... well honestly Koreans lol. There was a person who died, and a fan was involved, but even then people understood it wasn't the direct cause, just that there was a danger of leaving a fan on long enough if they had some condition. You couldn't do much about the conditions directly, so being careful with a fan was the next best thing.

The wiki article even talks about how the rumor might've spread. But superstition is common in every single country. The US often believes in worse shit, and they also kept tips for whatever reason lol. Even after the pandemic where the idiocy of there being a lack of tips for takeouts vs serving, which frankly is less costly and less of an effort than a well packed entire meal, only stays over reasonable wages because of some unexplained tradition. It's just a random ass thing, except Koreans weaned off the fan death shit in a few years and we've had tips forever.

Just using tips as an example of the randomly stupidity. It doesn't say anything about the culture or whatever, but I have heard some people use it as a justification that Korea's some backwards country, and I find that a pretty disturbing thought. Says more about that person tbh

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I dont understand the science behind this
Do Koreans ever actually explain how exactly it works? What about a fan running all night makes a human die?

I really don't understand how this has persisted in Korean culture.
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Zikten posted...

I dont understand the science behind this
Do Koreans ever actually explain how exactly it works? What about a fan running all night makes a human die?

The ones Ive spoken to who believe it (which are most of the ones Ive asked, surprisingly) think the fan will prevent you from getting oxygen while you sleep by sucking the air away from you, or something.

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One of the anomalous items in Control is a fan that sucks all the oxygen out of an area. The notion of fan death was spread by an investigator saying something dumb to a reporter.
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Lmao

I thought it was because a ghost crawls out of the fan and strangles you in your sleep.

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UnholyMudcrab posted...

I really don't understand how this has persisted in Korean culture.

I mean... I'm shocked there are people on this topic who've supposedly talked to people who adamantly believe it, but the whole thing died down once both digital and analog fans usually carried some sort of a timer. It wasn't ever treated as a big deal in Korea, and while most people knew about it, it was an easy enough caution to not take it like the gospel. They didn't like freak out when they left their fan on, just mostly a "whoops" sorta reaction. I fucking lived there for half my life lmao. The wiki literally has potential narratives for how the superstition came to be lmao. Why are any of you acting surprised?

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legendarylemur posted...

Honestly it ended even prior to that from my own experience, but don't fucking lie about how you've talked to somebody who still believes in this shit. You're lying for the sake of some weird narrative

What a weird accusation. I've personally lived in Korea for 5 years, and the majority of Koreans I've spoken to about it say they at least believe it's possible, or they say they believe it. That said, I haven't asked the entire country, or even that many people. I'm sure most people, especially young Koreans, don't believe it.

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my grandma believed this myth. she used to scold me when i fell asleep with the fan still on.
it's not just Korean, most Asian countries had this myth.

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Isn't it a thing they say when someone kills themselves? Like because that's less harsh to talk about

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I have literally been sleeping next to a fan that's been on inches away from my head for the past few weeks.

So no it's not true.

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i guess i'm immortal, fucking hell

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Lol nice, got modded. Even though fan death is actually commonly referred to in racist tones. In an attempt to be bipartisan, GameFAQs really reveals itself to be pro-racism tbh. That's something not just limited to GameFAQs though

Point still stands. People on this topic are lying about having talked to somebody who believes in something that died out in the early 2000s

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DocileOrangeCup posted...

Isn't it a thing they say when someone kills themselves? Like because that's less harsh to talk about

I think this might be what happened

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DuranOfForcena posted...

do you think people here didn't live through the early 2000s or

Do you not understand the concept of an idea dying in the early 2000s? That's very different from people living through the early 2000s. You think people still think Columbus was a hero? That notion stayed til the early 2000s lol. Anybody with half a brain will know in the modern age that that guy was a fraud.

Nice try to defend this shit but it's pretty inexcusable. Also one of the person in the topic literally admitted they didn't talk to many people about it yet framed his claim as if something that's still commonly believed. Yeah like some people in their like 70s or 80s might still believe this, but it's hardly something that you can judge a nation for. Like complaining about some superstition a select old people have, like what's the point lol

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I'm not even Korean, and this myth was already prevalent in my country in the 90's, maybe even before.
however, i sometimes get sore muscles when i woke up whenever i sleep with the fan directed to me. idk if it's a placebo or not.

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You'd think fan death just not happening would make people stop believing in it but politics has taught me that there is no evidence that will make people stop believing in something.

Did you know it used to be a common superstition in China that if you whip someone on the back with a tree branch it will cure their cold?

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slk_23 posted...

Has anybody actually tested this before? Maybe it's hot enough for some people to want to try sleeping by a fan, but I'm worried that they may not be able to report the results if they actually die from it.

I have a fan blowing on low every night, but it's not pointed at my bed. I just sleep better with the white noise it provides.

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wbloechel posted...

legendarylemur, show me on the doll where "Fan Death" hurt you...

Haha child molesting jokes are so funny

Oh wait no they're not.

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the fuck you mean "has anybody tested this?"

like people don't sleep with the fan on all the time

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billcom6 posted...

the fuck you mean "has anybody tested this?"

like people don't sleep with the fan on all the time

Actually I do. I cannot sleep in total silence. I've tried music but it didn't help.

I've slept with a fan on for about 20 years.

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I sleep with a big ass fan blowing right at me at full power every night, and yes I died

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Smackems posted...

I sleep with a big ass fan blowing right at me at full power every night, and yes I died

Cool. What's the afterlife like?