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No.
No it did not.
Ladies and gentlemen, air conditioning does not give you a cold or the flu. An air conditioned house will not make you sick.
Going from the 95F outdoors to the 69F department store gallery will not give you the flu. You can go in-and-out all day long for a week, and it will not make you sick.
Can a dirty AC with mold buildup inflame your allergies? Absolutely.
Can a dirty AC with mold buildup give you H1N1? Absolutely not.
Also, if you're Korean and reading this: sleeping in from of an electric fan will not kill you. Seriously, I promise it's safe.
We have another name for A/C in Texas: Life Support System. How anyone could think it brings anything but health and relief is beyond me.
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It's amazing to me, as I spend my last three days here in Korea (yes! back to Alaska on Monday!), how literally frightened people are of fans and air conditioning.
There is a solid belief here that electric fans actually kill people--new fans have a warning label here, like a Surgeon General warning, that extended use of several hours may result in death!
Most Koreans honestly believe that air conditioning actually makes you sick, and my in-laws have never used theirs--I often tease them, as I'm mopping the sweat from my brow, that they only bought it to hold that corner of the house down during the Monsoons.
Personally, I think it's a government sleight-of-hand: 50 million people (17,000 per square kilometer in Seoul!) believe the energy-hog AC might kill them--the government says so!--well, simply put, the country saves a bundle on power consumption...
Reminds me of all the Asian women in masks I saw at SeaTac on the way home from Paizocon. I kept wanting to go up to them to let them know that the H1N1 is not an airborne virus, and even if it was, it's probably not going to kill them.
RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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It's amazing to me, as I spend my last three days here in Korea (yes! back to Alaska on Monday!), how literally frightened people are of fans and air conditioning.
There is a solid belief here that electric fans actually kill people--new fans have a warning label here, like a Surgeon General warning, that extended use of several hours may result in death!
Most Koreans honestly believe that air conditioning actually makes you sick, and my in-laws have never used there's--I often tease them, as I'm mopping the sweat from my brow, that they only bought it to hold that corner of the house down during the Monsoons.
Personally, I think it's a government sleight-of-hand: 50 million people (17,000 per square kilometer in Seoul!) believe the energy-hog AC might kill them--the government says so!--well, simply put, the country saves a bundle on power consumption...
Ha! We share a conspiracy theory!! It took me nearly 7 years in Korea before that occurred to me as the explanation for the 'fan-death' ludicrousy.
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I know I keep hearing that the H1N1 virus is not airborne; however, it is a strain of Influenza A, which is transmitted via aerosols (amongst other ways). So yeah, it doesn’t just float along merrily through the air by itself, but it can be transmitted through the air via microscopic droplets left after someone sneezes or coughs or what have-you.
Therefore, a face mask will potentially do some good in protecting against cold and flu viruses (including H1N1 I would imagine). It’s not a total protection, as the virus can also enter through membranes in the eye as well as the nose and throat, but I’ve always had the impression this is not as common (like I think someone would need to sneeze directly into your eyes for that to happen).
On the original topic, there’s no evidence that change in temperature or cold weather (in itself) will cause you to catch a cold or flu.
There was a recent article on NPR (national public radio) about hot and cold showers during winter and summer specifically causing a slight rise in your vulnerability to a cold or flu, however I don't recall what the report was called or the specific day, it was during the last two weeks.
Also, if you're Korean and reading this: sleeping in from of an electric fan will not kill you. Seriously, I promise it's safe.
Sounds like you have to put up with the same s$&! over there across the water.
-Still over in Weihai
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Also, if you're Korean and reading this: sleeping in from of an electric fan will not kill you. Seriously, I promise it's safe.
Sounds like you have to put up with the same s~#@ over there across the water.
-Still over in Weihai
I'm waving out my window--can you see me? I'm doing a big two-handed wave now, since you're a little far away.
Reminds me of all the Asian women in masks I saw at SeaTac on the way home from Paizocon. I kept wanting to go up to them to let them know that the H1N1 is not an airborne virus, and even if it was, it's probably not going to kill them.
Of course, the masks keep them from spitting on stuff, and people who wear masks don't usually touch their own mouth. Doesn't hurt.
It's amazing to me, as I spend my last three days here in Korea (yes! back to Alaska on Monday!)...
The smell of garlic shall ever linger.
Going from the 95F outdoors to the 69F department store gallery will not give you the flu. You can go in-and-out all day long for a week, and it will not make you sick.
Yes, it can make you sick.
Traffic can make you sick too.
And here I thought this was a shot at Seelah's low AC for her level. :)
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Also, if you're Korean and reading this: sleeping in from of an electric fan will not kill you. Seriously, I promise it's safe.
Sounds like you have to put up with the same s%#@ over there across the water.
-Still over in Weihai
Let them be nervous. Had they stayed out of it in the first place, there wouldn't be a psycho-nut running the north part :0)
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It's amazing to me, as I spend my last three days here in Korea (yes! back to Alaska on Monday!), how literally frightened people are of fans and air conditioning.
There is a solid belief here that electric fans actually kill people--new fans have a warning label here, like a Surgeon General warning, that extended use of several hours may result in death!
Most Koreans honestly believe that air conditioning actually makes you sick, and my in-laws have never used theirs--I often tease them, as I'm mopping the sweat from my brow, that they only bought it to hold that corner of the house down during the Monsoons.
Personally, I think it's a government sleight-of-hand: 50 million people (17,000 per square kilometer in Seoul!) believe the energy-hog AC might kill them--the government says so!--well, simply put, the country saves a bundle on power consumption...
This is nonsense. If you smoke fifty fans a day, that is bound to have a detrimental effect on your lungs. And Transformers clearly demonstrates the dangers of angry electrical equipment. Do not listen to this man - this is a right-wing conspiracy to peddle deadly fans and AC units to the world.
Let them be nervous. Had they stayed out of it in the first place, there wouldn't be a psycho-nut running the north part :0)Also, if you're Korean and reading this: sleeping in from of an electric fan will not kill you. Seriously, I promise it's safe.
Sounds like you have to put up with the same s%#@ over there across the water.
-Still over in Weihai
The story I can tell but probably shouldn't. I had dinner with a retired Chinese general who was part of a PLA mission in the early 90s to help the NKs with their missile program. That was about when the love affair between China and NK was ending.
They don't even trust the hand that feeds them, a spook followed him everywhere and prevented him on several occasions from speaking to certain people.
The NK powers that be have been spending a good share of their aid money building themselves an underground city in case they decide to start a war. Bombing them is just going to kill all the starving peasants aboveground.
Believe me everyone out there. NK is NOTHING like Iran.
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RPG Superstar 2009 Top 8
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Reminds me of all the Asian women in masks I saw at SeaTac on the way home from Paizocon. I kept wanting to go up to them to let them know that the H1N1 is not an airborne virus, and even if it was, it's probably not going to kill them.
Spittle flies. If you don't believe it, you've never seen my pronounce my Ps.
Ladies and gentlemen, air conditioning does not give you a cold or the flu. An air conditioned house will not make you sick.
That's right. In fact, John Gorrie, one of the first people to come up with the idea of air conditioning, originally used it as a possible cure for malaria. So not only can it not give you a cold. It also cures disease! :P
Maybe metaphorically sick, but not medically sick...Going from the 95F outdoors to the 69F department store gallery will not give you the flu. You can go in-and-out all day long for a week, and it will not make you sick.Yes, it can make you sick.
Traffic can make you sick too.
Here come the semantic police.. define "sick".
Reminds me of all the Asian women in masks I saw at SeaTac on the way home from Paizocon. I kept wanting to go up to them to let them know that the H1N1 is not an airborne virus, and even if it was, it's probably not going to kill them.
Spittle flies. If you don't believe it, you've never seen my pronounce my Ps.
Also, they seem to talk less with the masks on. Always good.
AC can kill you, that's why I wear plate mail. Oh wait, this wasn't about Armour Class, was it...?
Freon poisioning does occur, I have a friend who worked in a junkyard tearing apart car a/cs and was diagnosed with this. He is now taking medication to reverse the effect.
Reminds me of all the Asian women in masks I saw at SeaTac on the way home from Paizocon. I kept wanting to go up to them to let them know that the H1N1 is not an airborne virus, and even if it was, it's probably not going to kill them.
I remember reading about a 'flu epidemic in San Fran just after WWII. People wore gauze masks to prevent that outbreak. They were avaliable in 3 designs, neither of which actually worked. Made me wonder why people are wearing masks for H1N1--does it actually do anything?
Spittle flies. If you don't believe it, you've never seen my pronounce my Ps.
Fair enough. Still, it's an overreaction. H1N1 has killed what, about 140-150 people? Your run-of-the-mill influenza kills an average of 500,000 annually. Might as well make the mask a regular part of the wardrobe.
My AC got me hit, but it was really my Fort save that made me sick.
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Creative wordplay aside, I think everyone understands what I mean by the statement, "The AC does not make you sick."
The whole thing is funny, but also extremely frustrating when I hear things here in Korea like, "Fans cause people to suffocate." "ACs ('Air-Con' in Hangul) actually give you a cold." "We don't use the AC in the High School classrooms because AC air is unhealthy for the students."
Some Korean parents pay exorbitantly for space-available classroom seats in the DoDDS (high school on post) summer school program at Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. They actually came together and signed a petition last week to have the building's AC cut off during the day, citing health concerns of breathing AC air! Naturally, DoDDS denied the request, and many parents actually pulled their kids out.
My local PX sells LG standing AC units (they are awesome!). They're billed as devices that not merely cool the air for comfort, but clean and purify the air by recirculating the room air and filtering out the pollutants, including airborne germs, etc.
The exact same AC is sold outside the gate and includes a government warning label discouraging extended use in excess of several hours at a time, due to 'thousands of annual deaths.' Fans sold off post include the same warning label!
Also, in case you didn't know, going outside with wet hair in the winter does not give you the flu.
I work with a lot of immigrants and I've witnessed this type of behavior, but the labels on the AC's thing baffles me. What is the benefit of labeling something as harmful, when it isn't. Is the government getting some sort of control out of it? Is it a trick to keep energy costs down? Why would they do that?
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I work with a lot of immigrants and I've witnessed this type of behavior, but the labels on the AC's thing baffles me. What is the benefit of labeling something as harmful, when it isn't. Is the government getting some sort of control out of it? Is it a trick to keep energy costs down? Why would they do that?
You could argue it's cultural--there are a lot of strange (to me) beliefs here in Korea, and the government panders to them. But you're on the mark: I mentioned above to the effect that if millions of city-dwellers believe certain power-hungry electrical devices are actually detrimental to their health, and thus don't regularly use them, the powergrid benefits.