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LessWrong comments on Stupid Questions, December 2015 - Less Wrong
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I gave my book to my dad and I noticed him licking his finger to turn pages. I exploded and took the book away from him. I apologized later and explained this annoys me to no end.
Can anyone explain why people do it? FWIW I occasionally had two page turn at once and very rarely three at ones. I'm guessing it's something with the ink, just to make my head work a bit. Or perhaps something to do with older books. Can anyone explain why people do this? I ran a search and I only got even more questions, like if it spreads germs.
(My dad said he always did it, so he's rather unhelpful too)
It is very hard to turn pages if your fingers are too dry (or lack oil). Most people turn pages by using the friction of their fingers against the face of the page, rather than hunting for the edge of the page. Very dry skin doesn't present much friction, and your fingers just slide along the page.
I usually blow on my fingers, on the theory that it is slightly more sanitary, and provides enough moisture to 'grip' the paper.
I have never found that. I always turn pages by the edge, and find the idea of licking my fingers to turn them revolting.
It did not become a problem for me until I started washing my hands and using hand sanitizer multiple times a day. Aging may also be a factor. Glossy pages are also worse than 'normal' paper. (e.g., I do not tend to have this problem when reading normal books, but do when reading children's picture books.)
I don't know if any of that was useful information :-)
EDIT: Typo
A dry finger slides easily on paper, a wet finger sticks to it (and moves it).
Cashiers often have a wet sponge on hand to moisten their finger when counting banknotes.
My grandfather saw me do this to a book once and told me the story of an Eastern mage who avenged himself by leaving the king who beheaded him a wondrous book with pages stuck together - but they were poisoned.
Never did this again...
I see no reason why bacteria can't survive like this.
I've found that breathing on my fingertips is enough to get a grip on paper. I don't actually have to lick them. I'm not sure if breath is much more sanitary than spit though.