Your argument is that in order for you to have a better experience the previous owner should not “ruin” the book for you. I’ve read better arguments on bathroom stalls.

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Diogenesian 2 hours ago | parent | next [-]

No, my argument is that it's totally obnoxious to lend or resell a book that you've written in, and it's a shallow way of taking notes to begin with. It is precisely what Socrates warned us about.

	▲	dfee an hour ago \| parent \| next [-]
		it's totally obnoxious to buy a copy of a book with notes in it and complain about those notes. 2¢
	▲	emptybits an hour ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Aside from shallow, uncritical notes, consider that annotating in a margin is evidence that a reader is actively engaging with a text. Very often when I write in margins it's to question or argue against what's written (e.g. "really? what about ...", or "no, contradicts ...") which, to me, seems in line with the dialectic process Socrates promoted. Multiple sides, truth-seeking. Sure, having a spacious notebook on the side is even better. But it's the same goal, isn't it? Engage more deeply with a text and encourage questioning as you read it, while it's still fresh.

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jMyles 2 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

> bathroom stalls

That's like, elite literary territory though. Let's stick to the discussion on books.

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somenameforme 2 hours ago | parent [-]

The first time I read "this sentence is false" it was scrawled in a bathroom stall in the philosophy department. Seemed appropriate. Left me wondering how many other people had also sat there pondering it for a few moments, certainly more than that had called that number for a good time.

	▲	jambalaya8 an hour ago \| parent [-]
		Perhaps "this sentence is false" was actually the precursor to "Jeopardy", though.