TOW #9: We Are All Plagiarists

With such a massive amount of information on the internet, what happens when two ideas are a little too similar?

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/cartoonists/2013/11/we-are-all-plagiarists.html

Plagiarism is a feared word. It implies something very sinister. How can everyone be a plagiarist? Robert Mankoff explores what plagiarism means, particularly in a world where so much has already been said. Mankoff believes that the difference between plagiarism and coincidence is intent. In a world with an infinite number of ideas spinning around the internet, how does one effectively avoid plagiarism? Unless, like an unfortunate cartoon editor described in Mankoff's essay, "We Are All Plagiarists," you sort through every last publication within a certain range, it's hard to be sure if you're plagiarizing. Mankoff's purpose is to highlight a gray area that has arisen. What qualifies as intent to do something, not just in terms of plagiarism, is sometimes indiscernible from coincidence. Although he doesn't quite make any remarks regarding how to deal with this confusion, Mankoff does use his essay to at least highlight its importance. Robert Mankoff is an author, editor, and has worked as a cartoonist for The New Yorker for twenty years. In addition to his memoir which is set to come out in 2014, Mankoff has written a book about cartooning. Between his experience and dedication, Mankoff is considerably credible. The audience of "We Are All Plagiarists" is explicitly "we"; Mankoff meant to reach readers of The New Yorker and possibly even readers and writers in general. Anyone who reads or creates content would fall into Mankoff's intended audience. Mankoff highlights the importance of intent versus coincidence using a very effective anecdote. It worked because he wasn't telling the reader why this one aspect is important, but rather he shows the reader. Also, the author uses an interesting strategy in which he used a google search of the title of his essay, "We Are All Plagiarists," to prove his point. Not surprisingly, Mankoff hasn't written the only "We Are All Plagiarists," although he uses that idea to make a point that the only reason why he technically wasn't plagiarizing was because he didn't do so purposefully.