The other day I was discussing with my friend Dr. Ronnoc about how students nowadays regard cheating a "necessary evil" that is so prevailing a concept among college students.
I do realize there are still plenty students in/from Taiwan who have the vaguest idea of what plagiarism is. But it is not until today, when I realize that one of my comments left on a blogger's site could have "inspired" someone with highly similar opinion, that I started to reflect, to review and rethink the meaning of plagiarism.
According to Wikipedia: "Plagiarism (from Latin plagiare "to kidnap") is the practice of claiming, or implying, original authorship or incorporating material from someone else's written or creative work, in whole or in part, into one's own without adequate acknowledgement."
And Oxford dictionary define Plagiarism as "the practice of taking someone else's work or ideas and passing them off as one's own."
The thing is, ever since the world is swamped with on-line publications such as blogs, personal websites, (unless the publications are recognized as academic or serious writings,) blog entries, comments and interactive messages might be overlooked as "uncitable" source. Most of the cases like these, people with clear conscience would usually give the credit to where they learn the idea, with quotes or mentioning. Some insensitive and uncreative mediocrity, however, might take the credit and claim the ideas, sayings, or discoveries/inventions their own. Being mediocre is never shameful, what's disgraceful is the pretension of being creative, original and intelligent, and take other's credits and efforts as his/her own.
Sometimes some plagiarizers pose as if they are innocent because of their naivete over the crime they did; and sometimes they avow that they fail to look up similar statements/research effort made by others, or they forgot the double-check the originality of their remarks and views. Plagiarism is unforgettable and unpardonable when it comes to academic circumstance. Nevertheless, when it comes to on-line sources as trivial as comments in people's blogs, as trite as IM's chats and as banal as people's essays, reflections and random thoughts, a person's conscience and integrity is what one relies on for doing the right thing, for being honest and righteous. Without that sheer and pure conscience, without honesty, one can always steal other's substantial property or intelligent property and play smart so as to disguise his/her real face of a pitiful doofus. (In this particular case, a boofus).
How can we, the robbed, pretend nothing happened ? What else can we, the victim, accuse the robber and dispose the dirty trick of the crooked character, since there is scarce proof and witness to take the stand?
Sadly, nothing.
Nothing but the inner voice and the remaining integrity in the heart of the thief.