Saturday, 10 November 2012

On Plagiarism


Is the world not in a sad state regarding this issue?  So selfish and greedy we have become, that each little idea, innocent and helpless, is skewered with a giant flag to mark its ownership.  Those who attempt to represent the idea flag-free are locked up, fined exorbitant amounts of money or booted from University.  While we’re still lucky enough to be children, a stern lecture on the capitol offense of plagiarism might suffice. 

Imagine I give you a gift.  It’s heavy, and wrapped in metallic green paper, and you think that you may want it.  Maybe it’s a plaything.  Maybe it’s a tool, something useful.  Perhaps it’s even a fragment of something, that missing piece you’ve been looking for.  Now I tell you that you must give me a gift back, if you want to open your present.  “How rude,” you might say to me.  If I’m unlucky, you might say something even worse about my poor custom.  And yet so too is the way with academia!  So too is the referencing and copywriting system we’re told is so sacred!

If I’m fortunate enough, some of what I’ve written, or rather will write, may seem wise to you.  In that case, consider this blog as a gift given freely.  If you fancy any idea please use it in whichever fashion you like.  Do not repay me with the gift of a reference, for such gifts are in the medium of glory.  I deserve no glory for what you find in the pages to follow.  They were not written by me, but rather through me.  The true author is my Muse.  So I invite you to use what is written freely, and in doing so my Muse may become your muse.  He may speak through you too and, hopefully, the glory that you have not wasted on me may be perfected onto Him. 

Let us break the cycle.  Use freely what I can offer.  Mold it, add to it, change it into something entirely new, into something all your own.  And when you give it to the world, give it free.

Yours,

d.
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