Sunday, May 12, 2013

to be fair

As much as I scoff at fan death and, by extension, the myriad stupid, misguided, and naive beliefs that many Koreans hold, I should note that, while Koreans are provably wrong when it comes to fan death, this by no means indicates that they corner the market on superstition, pseudoscience, and other forms of ridiculous thought and action. In America, we've got snake handlers, faith healers, astrologers, and people who think more intrusive government is the answer to society's problems. We've also got people who carry around rabbits' feet, who refuse to wash their underwear before a big game for fear of jinxing their favorite team, who think that searing a steak will "seal in" the juices, who believe that gay marriage somehow erodes the institution of marriage, and who take religious scripture literally.

So don't be too quick to judge those cute little brownish people across the pond. Smug condescension, especially at the national/cultural level, isn't justified when your own people are just as fucked in the head.


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