Now that we can all stop worrying about terrorism...

... we should move on to the important issues.  Like fan death.  A fairly common belief in Korea is the existence of this phenomenon where having a fan on, in a room where the door(s) and window(s) are closed, while sleeping can lead to death.

This isn't a picture of a fan in my apartment (I've been forgetting to take a picture of it) but fans in Korea tend to come with these timers so you can set it before you go to sleep so you will reduce the likelihood of death by fan.

This isn't a belief held by a few people, but a widely held fact.  Some of my students, when I've mentioned I've slept with a room while just asking for fan death and have obviously survived (unless of course I'm Bruce Willis and everyone else is Haley Joel Osmont) they have been fairly surprised.

Here is a Korean news report on a fan death incident... obviously it's in Korean so... yeah.  I think you'll understand who the alleged murderer is when the camera acts like it's hiding from the killer.


Those brave reporters tempted the wrath of the dreaded fan.  From what I've heard, especially in the summer, there will be several stories on the news about the death of someone caused by a fan.  Korea can build smart phones, ships, cars, and various other pieces of technology but still reports on the physically impossible phenomenon of fan death.

I also found a video taken by an expat who talks to a few Koreans on the subject.


A Wikipedia article on the subject identifies some odd explanations for fan death.  These range from changes in air pressure to hypothermia to the cutting of oxygen molecules.

Does anyone know of any other strange widely held beliefs, from anywhere, that are hugely illogical?