Excerpt of Mark Twain’s words to Helen Keller when she was accused of plagiarism for her short story “The Frost King”: “Oh, dear me, how unspeakably funny and owlishly idiotic and grotesque was that ‘plagiarism’ farce! As if there was much of anything in any human utterance, oral or written, except plagiarism! The kernel, the soul — let us go further and say the substance, the bulk, the actual and valuable material of all human utterances — is plagiarism. For substantially all ideas are second-hand, consciously and unconsciously drawn from a million outside sources, and daily used by the garnerer with a pride and satisfaction born of the superstition that he originated them; whereas there is not a rag of originality about them anywhere except the little discoloration they get from his mental and moral calibre and his temperament, and which is revealed in characteristics of phrasing. When a great orator makes a great speech you are listening to ten centuries and ten thousand men — but we call it his speech, and really some exceedingly small portion of it is his. But not enough to signify. It is merely a Waterloo. It is Wellington’s battle, in some degree, and we call it his; but there are others that contributed. It takes a thousand men to invent a telegraph, or a steam engine, or a phonograph, or a telephone or any other important thing — and the last man gets the credit and we forget the others. He added his little mite — that is all he did. These object lessons should teach us that ninety-nine parts of all things that proceed from the intellect are plagiarisms, pure and simple; and the lesson ought to make us modest. But nothing can do that.”

You wrote: "I know just how easy it is to... absorb someone else's words and produce them five years later without realizing that you're quoting." It doesn't even take five years! How about five minutes? I used to be on the moderating team of a large homeschooling forum; we placed a high priority on acknowledging and responding to our members' posts. And over time I began to notice something odd. When I responded to someone's post, I would have told you that my thoughts were completely original. But on more than one occasion, when I looked back at the post I was responding to, I realized that I had unconsciously used an exact phrase that the poster had used. It was as if I internalized it and spit it back out as my own. There was no ill intent there, and I was not even aware of it until I revisited the original post. It didn't happen on a regular basis, but it happened often enough that it intrigued me. There must be something complicated going on in the brain when we process someone else's words and then synthesize them. Plagiarism is real, of course. But what if, sometimes, what looks like plagiarism isn't but is... something complicated going on in the brain? I also wonder if this phenomenon, whatever it is, explains in any way Helen Keller's "Frost King" affair.

Ah, this makes me appreciate IEW's 3-word note rule. If you copy too many words from your source while taking notes, you will absolutely be unwittingly forced into writing the same sentences as the original author even if you go back to your own notes.

The examples you posted look like obvious plagiarism. I don't really understand why they wouldn't be? Sure, it might be easier than people realize to plagiarize, but that doesn't excuse it. I think I may be pretty black and white about this issue.

It’s become almost a sport in Germany for people to electronically scan the decades-old PhD dissertations of those in government and other high-profile positions for elements of plagiarism. It’s easy to detect now, but not so 20+ years ago went they studied. Lots of careers have been ruined over it.

At least today they demand proof. My dad was kicked out of the Naval Academy sixty years ago because his writing was so good they thought he was plagiarizing. The evidence-lacking accusation by a teacher was enough. He went on to another school after several years enlisted, then spent his life teaching college English and writing on the side, and was very active and influential in his part of the world. Still, that initial undeserved loss was terrible for him. I note: if he hadn’t enlisted in the navy after being kicked off the officer track, he wouldn’t have been in the belly of a very old ship with asbestos, which eventually killed him. Yet who knows what things would have occurred otherwise? He wouldn’t have met my mom either. 🤔

With the number of words there are in English, you’d think this wouldn’t be a common accident by any measure. Yet we can often do this: it is an offshoot of idioms I think; we like to imitate what we admire, and a well-done turn of phrase or analogy is both enjoyable and comfortable in familiarity. Smart people don’t always realize what they are capable of memorizing in an age when we tend to ignore that capacity. On the same note, authors who stretch bounds of writing in inventive ways by creating new turns of phrase (Tolkien) or even new words (Shakespeare) tend to rise above all. How difficult is it, to invent a classic in a language that has been examined by so many for so long? Doctorate students rarely try. I will say: they should be very careful when giving out a life sentence for plagiarism- because it normally sticks with people even if underserved (except politicians sometimes: see Biden in college).

This is one of the reasons we love you: your wonderful authentic humility. Thank you!

I find it especially tricky when a document goes through various incarnations: notes for a class lecture, conference presentation, discussion group, etc. Things get added and lost and, while I try to be vigilant with sourcing even paraphrases, citations sometimes drop out or, more complexly, something I quoted one time, I paraphrase from memory later when, e.g., responding to a question at a conference, then it ends up being so much a part of my repertoire, I begin to think it's something I came up with myself. 🤦‍♂️

It’s not just in writing it’s everywhere and across all lines. In art there is so much copying and people defend their right to copy and say everyone does it. No matter how hard I would try I can’t copy another work of art because I’ve got my own thoughts. However those that copy, boast that they do and I’ve had that happen to me. It feels awful and now I’m not as generous in saying how I do something, the pigments I’ve chosen or technique I’ve used. Theft is theft and it hurts our spirits. Writing I think is more obvious like songs, but all creative artists are vulnerable. When I was growing up I thought copying material for papers was what everyone did🤷‍♀️we chose what we liked or made our points. In college I was shocked when told not to copy, how did I write a paper without copying? Thanks for sharing this valuable point.

I would imagine unintentional plagiarism is very difficult for individuals with exceptional recall skills. (I would imagine you are like that) My 15 year old son has a friend who most likely photographic memory. Guessing he could get himself in a lot of trouble without the proper guidance. My son isn't that good, but was quizzed to see if he was cheating in his AP class because he remembered the exact sentences and the labels of the graphs plus what pages they were in the book. When questioned he told her those facts off the top of his head, and she realized he just had exceptional recall. This is probably a conversation I should have with him. I don't have great word recall, but as an art educator and potter, I run into plagiarism often. Most is having students copy my work to learn, but many don't understand where the line is with plagiarism. I once had a student who basically copied my entire spring pottery line and then opened her own Etsy shop to sell her wares, majorly undercutting prices. (She found the line and stomped all over it.) I have had quite a few of my artist colleagues have designs stolen by artists who underprice and copy- even Pottery Barn has produced work exceptionally similar to another potter. Sage advice to always remain humble and be kind with your criticism.

Estamos en acuerdo. Too easy to do!