Wasn't this a line from the Rodney Dangerfield movie "Back to School"? When he was in the schoolbook store buying "Shakespeare for everyone!" he wanted his son to put back the used book and buy new because even though it was highlighted already, an idiot could have done it.
Posted by: Paul Dow at October 9, 2002 10:32 PM
Oh wow -- I remember that movie! I totally did not remember that line. Heh.
As a I recall, that movie starred the creepily-normal-looking actor dude who played the teenager in the movie version of Stephen King's Christine.
Posted by: Clive at October 9, 2002 10:35 PM
I wonder if they realized that the Ignobles are not awarded as compliments...?
Posted by: Dodd at October 9, 2002 11:00 PM
Well, the academic Vicki Silver showed up to accept the award and seemed to have a pretty good sense of humor about it! It's a rather surreal event, so I'm assuming it's impossible for anyone to take particuarly seriously.
Me, I want to read the paper that won the Ig Nobel award last year in the Medical category: "Injuries from Falling Coconuts".
Posted by: Clive at October 9, 2002 11:16 PM
I remember reading a story (somewhere, somewhere) about a store that would pay a premium for highlighted textbooks from students that got an "A" in the relevant class - I guess that's an attempt to remove the "moron factor."
Hell, I graduated summa cum laude, and still have some books on accounting, economics, and strategy - you know, if you college kids are feeling a little loose with the wallet. Not sure what a 1993-94 book will do for you, but let's not rush to judgement - operators are standing by.
Posted by: andy at October 9, 2002 11:23 PM
Dude, if you ever find that story, let me know! That's wild.
Posted by: Clive at October 9, 2002 11:29 PM
Worse yet, there is a correlation between how much you care about the material and whether you sell the book back --> the fraction of "moron books" would be higher than the fraction of morons in the population. A scary thought.
Posted by: Tom at October 10, 2002 12:03 AM
Worse yet, there is a correlation between how much you care about the material and whether you sell the book back --> the fraction of "moron books" would be higher than the fraction of morons in the population. A scary thought.
Posted by: Tom at October 10, 2002 12:03 AM
Heh. It's like natural selection.
Posted by: Clive at October 10, 2002 12:08 AM
So, what if you get a moron book and afterwards is highlighted by an intelligent person; so most of the book is highlighted. Does the next person become smarter or dumber for reading the textbook?
Hey! Were like scientists now. Peer reviewing and the like. Wait, wasn't that highlighted in my textbook?
Posted by: Johnny at October 10, 2002 2:08 AM
One day in 8th grade science, the teacher asked a question. I saw the answer was pencilled in the margin of my textbook, which I'd inherited from my sister, who had the same teacher the year before. (We had to buy all our books.) The teacher asked another question. My sister had written the correct answer in the margin. Apparently, he asked exactly the same questions every year. And my sister had written down all the answers. It was a great moment for me, though it may explain my sketchy comprehension of science.
Posted by: Joanne Jacobs at October 10, 2002 5:15 AM
I always used a different color highlighter than the person who'd owned the book before ...
After one particularly troubling night of reading Hume and Berkeley in a compendium that was pristine (sometimes, you had to buy new), I decided to start highlighting random words that, in context, were inoffensive, but out of context might make you giggle.
I eventually sold the book, but I wish I'd kept it. I remember being particularly amused by what I'd done. (Some say that's a problem of mine ... :)
Posted by: paul at October 10, 2002 9:01 AM
This can work in more subtle ways, too. I once borrowed an art theory book from a conceptual artist friend. I loved the book, but thought my friend had highlighted all the wrong stuff! (though maybe he had purchased it used, with the highlighting already in?... I never did ask.)
Posted by: Brian Brophey at October 10, 2002 9:05 AM
He who highlights everything highlights nothing...Ohmmmmmmmmmmm
Posted by: John S Allison at October 10, 2002 9:37 AM
I had a friend in medical school who used the "Black Highlighter" technique - he would obscure information that he considered useless. I believe the term he used was "bullsh*t". Perhaps research could be done with negative highlighting to see if the same theory holds true.
Posted by: Paul Stoufflet at October 10, 2002 11:32 AM
This must be a U.S. thing. I would never deface a textbook, except to put in a particularly crucial erratum. And I never sold my books either, even though I could have used the money. What if I had wanted to look something up five years later?
Posted by: David Gillies at October 10, 2002 2:00 PM
I don't _think_ it's just a US thing, but more of a personal decision. For me, highlighting usually doesn't do any good to me since I remember about 90% of what I read anyways. I wouldn't _need_ to sell a lot of my books... but y'never know. Some folks do!
Besides, a lot of the course folks buy books for, they won't _care_ in five years. If you graduate with a political science degree, are you really going to care what the atomic weight of lead is? (Presuming you're not normally into that kinda stuff)
Posted by: Andre Germain at October 10, 2002 2:19 PM
Actually in some countries, it is viewed as almost sacreligious to write or highlight in a book. I am a law student and a fellow student who is from Sweden was absolutely appalled that the vast majority of us law student write in our books. Hey, summarizing cases in the margins sure beats spending time briefing them and typing 2-4 pages.
By the way, really good students write in the books, not highlight. It is called active reading. So if you are looking for help from the previous owner, look for handwriting covering the margins :)
Posted by: Allison Mahlman Webb at October 11, 2002 1:38 AM
I think that people who write in text books are cool i aced every one of my science tests last year (geography, chemical, & weight/mass) i think I learned a lot more from my text book then my droning teacher or idiot school mates!
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Wasn't this a line from the Rodney Dangerfield movie "Back to School"? When he was in the schoolbook store buying "Shakespeare for everyone!" he wanted his son to put back the used book and buy new because even though it was highlighted already, an idiot could have done it.
Posted by: Paul Dow at October 9, 2002 10:32 PM
Oh wow -- I remember that movie! I totally did not remember that line. Heh.
As a I recall, that movie starred the creepily-normal-looking actor dude who played the teenager in the movie version of Stephen King's Christine.
Posted by: Clive at October 9, 2002 10:35 PM
I wonder if they realized that the Ignobles are not awarded as compliments...?
Posted by: Dodd at October 9, 2002 11:00 PM
Well, the academic Vicki Silver showed up to accept the award and seemed to have a pretty good sense of humor about it! It's a rather surreal event, so I'm assuming it's impossible for anyone to take particuarly seriously.
Me, I want to read the paper that won the Ig Nobel award last year in the Medical category: "Injuries from Falling Coconuts".
Posted by: Clive at October 9, 2002 11:16 PM
I remember reading a story (somewhere, somewhere) about a store that would pay a premium for highlighted textbooks from students that got an "A" in the relevant class - I guess that's an attempt to remove the "moron factor."
Hell, I graduated summa cum laude, and still have some books on accounting, economics, and strategy - you know, if you college kids are feeling a little loose with the wallet. Not sure what a 1993-94 book will do for you, but let's not rush to judgement - operators are standing by.
Posted by: andy at October 9, 2002 11:23 PM
Dude, if you ever find that story, let me know! That's wild.
Posted by: Clive at October 9, 2002 11:29 PM
Worse yet, there is a correlation between how much you care about the material and whether you sell the book back --> the fraction of "moron books" would be higher than the fraction of morons in the population. A scary thought.
Posted by: Tom at October 10, 2002 12:03 AM
Worse yet, there is a correlation between how much you care about the material and whether you sell the book back --> the fraction of "moron books" would be higher than the fraction of morons in the population. A scary thought.
Posted by: Tom at October 10, 2002 12:03 AM
Heh. It's like natural selection.
Posted by: Clive at October 10, 2002 12:08 AM
So, what if you get a moron book and afterwards is highlighted by an intelligent person; so most of the book is highlighted. Does the next person become smarter or dumber for reading the textbook?
Hey! Were like scientists now. Peer reviewing and the like. Wait, wasn't that highlighted in my textbook?
Posted by: Johnny at October 10, 2002 2:08 AM
One day in 8th grade science, the teacher asked a question. I saw the answer was pencilled in the margin of my textbook, which I'd inherited from my sister, who had the same teacher the year before. (We had to buy all our books.) The teacher asked another question. My sister had written the correct answer in the margin. Apparently, he asked exactly the same questions every year. And my sister had written down all the answers. It was a great moment for me, though it may explain my sketchy comprehension of science.
Posted by: Joanne Jacobs at October 10, 2002 5:15 AM
I always used a different color highlighter than the person who'd owned the book before ...
After one particularly troubling night of reading Hume and Berkeley in a compendium that was pristine (sometimes, you had to buy new), I decided to start highlighting random words that, in context, were inoffensive, but out of context might make you giggle.
I eventually sold the book, but I wish I'd kept it. I remember being particularly amused by what I'd done. (Some say that's a problem of mine ... :)
Posted by: paul at October 10, 2002 9:01 AM
This can work in more subtle ways, too. I once borrowed an art theory book from a conceptual artist friend. I loved the book, but thought my friend had highlighted all the wrong stuff! (though maybe he had purchased it used, with the highlighting already in?... I never did ask.)
Posted by: Brian Brophey at October 10, 2002 9:05 AM
He who highlights everything highlights nothing...Ohmmmmmmmmmmm
Posted by: John S Allison at October 10, 2002 9:37 AM
I had a friend in medical school who used the "Black Highlighter" technique - he would obscure information that he considered useless. I believe the term he used was "bullsh*t". Perhaps research could be done with negative highlighting to see if the same theory holds true.
Posted by: Paul Stoufflet at October 10, 2002 11:32 AM
This must be a U.S. thing. I would never deface a textbook, except to put in a particularly crucial erratum. And I never sold my books either, even though I could have used the money. What if I had wanted to look something up five years later?
Posted by: David Gillies at October 10, 2002 2:00 PM
I don't _think_ it's just a US thing, but more of a personal decision. For me, highlighting usually doesn't do any good to me since I remember about 90% of what I read anyways. I wouldn't _need_ to sell a lot of my books... but y'never know. Some folks do!
Besides, a lot of the course folks buy books for, they won't _care_ in five years. If you graduate with a political science degree, are you really going to care what the atomic weight of lead is? (Presuming you're not normally into that kinda stuff)
Posted by: Andre Germain at October 10, 2002 2:19 PM
Actually in some countries, it is viewed as almost sacreligious to write or highlight in a book. I am a law student and a fellow student who is from Sweden was absolutely appalled that the vast majority of us law student write in our books. Hey, summarizing cases in the margins sure beats spending time briefing them and typing 2-4 pages.
By the way, really good students write in the books, not highlight. It is called active reading. So if you are looking for help from the previous owner, look for handwriting covering the margins :)
Posted by: Allison Mahlman Webb at October 11, 2002 1:38 AM
I think that people who write in text books are cool i aced every one of my science tests last year (geography, chemical, & weight/mass) i think I learned a lot more from my text book then my droning teacher or idiot school mates!
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