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RE: Fan Death - A Curious Superstition
This article is great and the superstition is hilarious.
Here in Indonesia the fear is the same
Youll get "Masuk Angin" entry of the wind and it can supposedky make you very sick
But only from fans not AC
Well I think we all believe in things which may seem hilarious to people from other cultures.
That is interesting since AC has to also have a fan in it!
Herbal remedies to get out the wind are no joke , its a multimillion dollar market
Well trapped wind can be quite uncomfortable.
But its not the same as actual trapped wind
The symptoms are GI discomfort, mild fever, sweats, muscle aches, dull headache, lethargy
I have no idea what you are talking about then.
Ah then you are closer to solving the mystery of "fan death".
This is at its core, understanding Asian traditional ethnomedical concepts
Till u dig in there one cant understand why its a pan asian belief
That's what makes it so fascinating - I think these kind of things help us to understand other cultures.
This Masuk Angin is not recognised by the medical fraternity but the weight of cultural belief is so strong it goes unchallenged.
Same for "panas Dalam"
Workers could call in sick with either and its understood
Exactly
Now you see why its so funny
But that is the nature of irrational beliefs
To get out the wind inside you can drink some herbal remedy or get Kerokan..a rather painful process involving a coin, some oil and repeatèd rubbing massage until your back looks like tiger stripes of red whelts.
The superstition is ubiquitous in Indonesia about "fan death"