This is a topic of great interest to me, but I don't have a completely coherent take on it yet myself. I have struggled with the urge towards plagiarism a long time. Although luckily I got caught early in high school when I couldn't complete my French homework and so lifted whole paragraphs from a textbook. My teacher was very savvy in her manner of correcting me that I was not unduly shamed by her, just by my own conscience. I am really glad she did that.

At deeper level, bringing out one's own thinking about any issue is important to the world we live in. Each of us unique with unique perspectives that can help solve problems. If out of laziness or fear we copy, what good is that to anyone? Kind of like offering already been chewed stuff. Kind of disgusting actually.

As Shafer mentions, exactly right to talk about copying others creating the opportunity to compound mistakes. Also the problem of conformity, everyone thinking alike, afraid to buck the consensus, the discussion then quickly becoming totalitarian.

The biggest thing to me has become that we are cheating the world out of our own original thoughts, which we owe as our dues for having been given a human brain. I think this was a big topic for Goethe too. Just saw a Futurama with this theme, so I guess Matt Groenig struggles too.

Maybe some of the recently cited culprits have something like the problem I recently shared with a therapist. After burdensome amounts of research, writing and contemplation, a few days out from a deadline, I begin to break down. I fear I cannot offer anything original. Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but for me it becomes terrifying. The wise advice I got was to just put down whatever. Give myself permission to play. Creativity is play.

Just look at Shafer. He always seems like he's having a good time and seems to say whatever he feels like. ;-)