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If Plagiarism Was A Killer Disease....   

9/21/2013

13 Comments

 
PictureVictor Habbick @ freedigitalphotos.net
Are you a writer who ploughs with another's heifer? If you do not give appropriate recognition, you have to call yourself a thief, or more specifically,  according to wordweb.com, a criminal who takes property belonging to someone else with the intention of keeping or selling it. 

Maybe you don’t even realize that you are not using your own heifer; maybe the ideas and words you use to sell your personal perceptions were simply all over the Internet for you to use and abuse as you please. Maybe you are so full of yourself that you haven’t  even asked yourself where it all came from. Maybe you are under the impression that YOUR brain is the only one able to produce ideas and words in the perfect order.  


“Borrowed thoughts, like borrowed money, only show the poverty of the borrower.” - Lady Marguerite Blessington, Countess of Blessington at Quotesincan.com

Sadly, all writers are ploughing with the heifer of others. If plagiarism was a killer disease, all of us would have been dead by now.    

There are but only so many themes to write about. Since the beginning of humanity, the same old themes are explored and presented over and over again in all possible genres and styles. Writers are like chefs turning but only a limited fauna and flora into delicious meals.

However, writers are human, and humans are born with a need for recognition.  

I am not ashamed to admit that I have a need to be recognized. Yes, I feel uncomfortable in the barrage of compliments and even embarrassed when they are exaggerations.  I can certainly live without this. But a mere ‘thank you’, or the mentioning of my name when I had a share in any accomplishment makes me feel worthy and recognized.     


Picture
“What every genuine philosopher (every genuine man, in fact) craves most is praise although the philosophers generally call it recognition!” - William James. 

“There are two things people want more than sex and money... recognition and praise.” - Mary Kay Ash.


 (and, hereby, my thanks to the many sites online that offer the most awesome quotes for us writers to use in order to emphasize our (not original) ideas and thoughts. i.e. brainyquote.com and  www.goodreads.com 

I have published an entire hub about recognition and plagiarism. By reading it you will literally pay a penny for my thoughts. Just click on the following link: http://martiecoetser.hubpages.com/hub/Giving-Recognition-A-Way-To-Avoid-Plagiarism
13 Comments
marcoujor link
9/21/2013 07:36:58 pm

Dear Martie,

I tell you this...you are 'one of a kind', so I hope this means we have a long life of friendship ahead of us, you adorable Sista...plagiarism will not be killing you! Love, Mar

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Martie's Sherry Fountain link
9/22/2013 12:30:14 am

My dearest sista online, with you in my corner I feel more like two of a kind, so much stronger. You know, the debil made me do this one..... but I am still not sure if it is only a bad habit or a serious characteristic that makes a plagiarist a plagiarist. Or maybe, just maybe, it is but only the manner - the arrogance - that irritates the debil in me........ :)

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Vicki link
9/22/2013 09:41:51 am

Martie - this is so true, and the worst thing is, even with all the technology of today, nothing can rectify the unfairness of these thieves when they steal the writing and thoughts of others. Students pass their courses with flying colors after buying essays from the Internet merchants. Presumably this is the kind if thing that makes even the credentials of supposedly qualified

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Vicki
9/22/2013 09:46:27 am

Professionals suspect. We are in an environment now where it is becoming difficult to tell the wheat from the chaff, in whatever sense you mean it. Great article, Sista. Frustrating as I think about it, but good to point it out! Frustrating too when I can't finish my comment in 1 shot! Don't know what happened there!

Reply
Martie's Sherry Fountain link
9/22/2013 12:58:00 pm

Vicki, and not only do they buy essays, they present articles just as they have stolen it from the Internet. Yesterday, when I did my research on plagiarism, I saw a program especially for teachers to check the work of their students. On the other hand, if a student apply 'spinning', they will at least read what the spin and so they may learn something.... The level of intellectual progress of the youth is alarming. The standard down here for matric has dropped at least with 2 years. Thanks so much for your profound comment.

Kimmie
9/22/2013 09:42:52 am

A powerful punch about a much needed topic that has no end in sight. I am amazed to pull up one article to find many written the same with little twists but definitely the same. I wrote a story a while back, straight from my own brain and low and behold the same type of story line was written. Very close in nature...I was mortified...I know I did not steal the story but the story had been written way back. Did I read it sometime...somewhere...when I was a toddler...haha...Sometimes in this universe it is possible for our ideas to cross...but stealing on the other hand is stealing and sad to say...I do not see it ever ending without stiff fines or changed hearts and consciousnesses. Is that a word..Consciousnesses...sounded good anyway..haha Love your blog my dear.
Love,
Kimmie.

Reply
Martie's Sherry Fountain link
9/22/2013 01:12:46 pm

Kimmie, I have a book, "25 Successful Plots" - based on successful books and movies. So, copying a plot and/or a storyline is apparently not plagiarism, but a basic plan - like a road map. Just look at the plot of Little Red Riding Hood - most of those stories were based on the same plot and story line. You will be amazed to see who were guilty of plagiarism, while you enjoy another sjerry :) - and this is but only a few - http://www.cracked.com/article_17198_5-great-men-who-built-their-careers-plagiarism.html

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Shauna L Bowling link
9/22/2013 10:02:46 am

"You will literally pay a penny for my thought". I love it, Martie! Your message is loud and clear, though. Give credit where credit is due or create your own masterpiece!

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Martie's Sherry Fountain link
9/22/2013 01:15:31 pm

Yes, Shauna, we need those pennies, don't we? Have another sherry! -:)

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femmeflashpoint link
9/22/2013 11:05:40 am

"There is nothing new under the sun."

However, if I send you a dress, ain't nobody gonna wear it like you do. (Grin!)

I think it's very cool how each of us who strives to be unique, could all be given the same thought, and yet write it down in significantly different ways.

Perhaps that's the greater challenge, I dunno. Just thinking out loud.

However, 'though the concept, thought, idea, may not be a new one, if it moves us and we are urged to expound on it, I think we owe it to ourselves, and those we hope to read our work, that we'll reproduce it with unique nuances and even perspectives, if possible.

The ones who don't ... like a village with a villager who's been caught thieving ... we shun them into submission, or just ban them from the village. Other villages will catch on and be doing some shunning and banning as well.

Ultimately, they'll run out of places to run to, and will find no safe harbor to write in, and no readers to peruse their scribbles.

At that point, they'll have to toss their pens, papers, keyboards, etc., and become something that requires less creativity and no integrity ... like .... lawyers?

(Wink!)

femme

Reply
Martie's Sherry Fountain link
9/22/2013 01:42:46 pm

Femme, fortunately they do toss their pens and keyboards. You know, we have to have a passion for writing in order not to toss our tools.

We did the perspective thing for many months in HP. Six of us - MickeySr, Docmo, Marcoujor, Shauna, Vicki and I, as well as guest writers - took a specific topic (one per month) and published our perspective on it simultaneously - It was amazing! Even though we had the same general perspective on a topic, each of us had a unique way of revealing it. That was great fun. I wonder if we will plagiarize this idea of Mickey if he do the same kind of thing in here.... er..... that was hard and quite stressful. I hate deadlines and also prescribed topics, although I was amazed to see the results - We tend to surprise ourselves when we are obliged to produce - But oh, so tiresome, like running up a steep mountain.

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Alexandra link
9/23/2013 03:48:20 pm

Martie, one afternoon in art school we were all positioned at the same point of a beach and asked to create something. No two people produced anything even remotely similar other than a recognizable location. Ideas are like that beach. We all look at things differently though the basis may be similar. As for straight plagiarism, it's awful. How can anyone learn to see clearly through another person's glasses?

Reply
Martie's Sherry Fountain link
9/24/2013 04:27:41 pm

Alexandra, thanks for sharing this experience of yours. So true: we all have a unique idea, although it may be basically the same, of a specific topic and a unique way of expressing it. What counts: By doing it my way I may reach/touch people you may miss by doing it your way, and so, by the end of the day we all reach/touch each other with the same idea..... :)

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