I like the humor to this post, but this only portrays the lazy side of academia. Yes, there's plenty of drool out there, but most writers and researchers are looking to post something new and unique. And let's be honest - someone who fails to produce unique work will, in time, be forgotten. Consider Einstein, or Marie Curie, or Sigmund Freud - regardless of how you view their efforts, they produced unique ideas which revolutionized the knowledge of their day.
In terms of plagiarism, I think we have to differentiate between those who are following (and adding to) revolutionary work and those who are simply trying to steal some of the glory for themselves. This young author in Germany - has she contributed something new to pages she has lifted from others? Or did she simply lift them because she was too lazy to do the real work herself? The fact that she didn't announce her intentions up-front leads me to suspect the latter. And I imagine she was too naive to know she'd be caught. So sure, we can let her argue that she's a product of the "modern era" - let her claim whatever she likes. In the long run, we'll know that her works have nothing original to contribute, and we'll ignore them in the future.
Slashdot Mirror
I like the humor to this post, but this only portrays the lazy side of academia. Yes, there's plenty of drool out there, but most writers and researchers are looking to post something new and unique. And let's be honest - someone who fails to produce unique work will, in time, be forgotten. Consider Einstein, or Marie Curie, or Sigmund Freud - regardless of how you view their efforts, they produced unique ideas which revolutionized the knowledge of their day. In terms of plagiarism, I think we have to differentiate between those who are following (and adding to) revolutionary work and those who are simply trying to steal some of the glory for themselves. This young author in Germany - has she contributed something new to pages she has lifted from others? Or did she simply lift them because she was too lazy to do the real work herself? The fact that she didn't announce her intentions up-front leads me to suspect the latter. And I imagine she was too naive to know she'd be caught. So sure, we can let her argue that she's a product of the "modern era" - let her claim whatever she likes. In the long run, we'll know that her works have nothing original to contribute, and we'll ignore them in the future.