South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life • Hacker News Board

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#171

Post by matty22 » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 3:22 PM UTC

I'm from the US, but spent 2 years teaching English in South Korea. I interacted with very few adult Koreans who weren't teachers, so I can't speak to the 'overworked, stressed Korean businessman' stereotype. However, schooling for kids there is a lot different from schooling here. If you think your American kid is overworked and is given too much homework, it doesn't hold a candle to what Korean kids are put through.

From the age of 7 or 8, they are doing full days at school and at least 1 after school hagwon (private academy). That ramps up as they get older. By 10 or 11, they are doing full 9am-9pm days. Middle and high school kids are more like 9am-9pm in class and I've had kids tell me that they go home and study until 2 or 3am, regularly. I routinely had kids breakdown and cry.

After a while I realized that in a small way I was helping contribute to the continuation of this lifestyle and I soured on the whole teaching English in Korea thing and moved back to the States. I loved Korea on the whole and would go back in a heartbeat, but not as a teacher.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#172

Post by acheron » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 3:30 PM UTC

lsc wrote: post #125

Mikeb85 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just go to a monastery? It's just as structured, but with better food, scenery and the meditation/prayer/spirituality element helps when you return to civilisation.

That actually sounds pretty interesting to me. Like, could I take a month off and go study Christ at some catholic monastery even though I'm not a believer?

Probably, yeah. Look up monasteries in your area, there's a good chance there will be one with guest accommodations, and I gather you'd have access to their books, able to attend services if you want, etc. Details vary I'm sure. I've never done it myself but thought about it.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#173

Post by monksy » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 3:34 PM UTC

wnevets wrote: post #99

duchenne wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have been living in Korea for many years. I have never heard about it. I asked my Korean colleagues about it. They have never heard about it and they think that it is weird.

Do people actually think they'll die if they sleep with the fan on? Thats pretty weird to me.

That's a German thing too.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#174

Post by xfitm3 » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 4:12 PM UTC

AsyncAwait wrote: post #159

triplesec wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you suggest some better-informed sources for us? I'd be very interested in more nuanced available sources

I have several major news apps on my phone and what I've found is that they're all reporting the same story, with very similar biases, within minutes of each other. They all seem to drink from the same fountain. You'd basically need to know what biases which outlets have to what stories and apply a filter accordingly, which can be extremely time consuming.

What about the AP? They seem to be rooted in factual reporting.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#175

Post by Mikeb85 » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 4:21 PM UTC

lsc wrote: post #125

Mikeb85 wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not just go to a monastery? It's just as structured, but with better food, scenery and the meditation/prayer/spirituality element helps when you return to civilisation.

That actually sounds pretty interesting to me. Like, could I take a month off and go study Christ at some catholic monastery even though I'm not a believer?

Probably. Although I'm more familiar with Orthodox Christian monasticism, but yeah, depending on the monastery they'll take in visitors and belief isn't required, though a certain level of respect and open-mindedness is. Monasticism also isn't so much about 'studying' as contemplation (it's actually quite similar in some ways to Buddhist meditation). Not every monastery is open to visitors (depending on their facilities and number of monks), but it's worth sending a few calls/emails.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#176

Post by wnevets » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 4:24 PM UTC

lmm wrote: post #148

gadders wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Really? Citation please.

http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Human_Spaceflight/Astronau...

>but warm air does not rise in space so astronauts in badly-ventilated sections end up surrounded by a bubble of their own exhaled carbon dioxide.

Whoa, I didn't think about that.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#177

Post by driverdan » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 4:32 PM UTC

bonestamp2 wrote: post #114

driverdan wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> To declutter your mind you have to remove yourself from all of your physical clutter Maybe you should try getting rid of your physical clutter first. It might improve your overall happiness instead of a day without it.

I agree with you and I have done this, but I mentioned it because I don't think most people have. That said, I think the clutter in your home is deeper than the actual physical clutter. Even if you clear all of the physical clutter, you still have what I call "associative" clutter. Every experience (good and bad) that you've had in your home adds to this mental clutter. I still think it's important to get out of your…

> I still think it's important to get out of your home and go to a simple place frequently, nature would probably be a good option too.

Agreed.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#178

Post by calvinbhai » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 5:09 PM UTC

_jgdh wrote: post #120

calvinbhai wrote: post #29

Question for South Koreans here: Is this real or is this report just the usual exaggeration by western media? Asking because Reuter’s has a biased reporting for anything related to India, and I’m wondering if they have a similar lens / filter for South Korea. (I’m from India in US)

I’m from India in India. Could you give some examples of incorrect reporting by Reuters?

Biased != incorrect.

If your biases and Reuters’ biases match, then you won’t notice anything biased or wrong in Content published by them. I think it’s up to you to figure out and identify which of the (many) biases are obvious in Reuter’s content of Asian and south East Asian countries (not just India)

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#179

Post by calvinbhai » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 5:09 PM UTC

User9991 wrote: post #149

_jgdh wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m from India in India. Could you give some examples of incorrect reporting by Reuters?

> Could you give some examples of incorrect reporting by Reuters? Of course not. Instead, they'll throw around baseless accusations - because it's hip to scream "fake news- without a shred of evidence or hint of irony.

Alas, your expectation was and is wrong ;)

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#180

Post by calvinbhai » Wed, Nov 28, 2018, 5:23 PM UTC

j39 wrote: post #111

calvinbhai wrote: post #29

Question for South Koreans here: Is this real or is this report just the usual exaggeration by western media? Asking because Reuter’s has a biased reporting for anything related to India, and I’m wondering if they have a similar lens / filter for South Korea. (I’m from India in US)

Wut? I am Indian in India, and don't know what you are talking about. I prefer Reuters India any day of the week compared to the never ending "infotainment" from the local mainstream press.

as I said in an earlier comment:

"Biased != incorrect. If your biases and Reuters’ biases match, then you won’t notice anything biased or wrong in Content published by them. I think it’s up to you to figure out and identify which of the (many) biases are obvious in Reuter’s content of Asian and south East Asian countries (not just India)."

If you are aware of your own cognitive biases, only then can one start noticing what kind of reporting is biased and what is not.

FWIW, I believe biased reporting helps receive more clicks, and I'm not necessarily against it.

My question was purely out of interest to know if people from/in Korea agree with the picture painted by Reuters or not. Looking at the popularity of the question, my guess is probably not.

Reason for my question, in addition to my belief that they are biased (not incorrect), is that a similar behavior in the US would mean (my guess, I'm not a doc) a diagnosis of depression.