Yes, we should. If the general statement about fans is not true, then the general statement about how South Koreans believe in fan death loses validity. The author didn't do their research.
That is a very poor line of reasoning. One thing being untrue does not prove/disprove a larger point.
This is unfortunately a very common way of thinking in the US, and completely backwards.
In this case, all you would have to do is speak with someone from South Korea to find out about this, and it turns out, some do believe it - I found out about this phenomena from a friend from Korea, and she believed it to be true even though she knew the science behind it was bunk.
> One thing being untrue does not prove/disprove a larger point.
That's what what he said. What he said was that because the author made a claim that is empirically, provably false, it shows the author didn't reach a level of research that would show them that the claim was false. It brings into question other claims the author has made.
This is unfortunately a very common way of thinking in the US, and completely backwards.
In this case, all you would have to do is speak with someone from South Korea to find out about this, and it turns out, some do believe it - I found out about this phenomena from a friend from Korea, and she believed it to be true even though she knew the science behind it was bunk.