The desire to make things work faster, simpler and easier originates from the world we find ourselves in. Things are modeled to move much faster and in the process we try to imitate others with the desire to do things better or similar to what they have spent a lot of time perfectly put together. With the advent of information age brought about by internet, retrieval of information has become very fast and simple. The question that we should answer appropriately is that is it not the right time we re-think about the quality and the originality of our written works or are we less intelligent and lazier than those who have taken their time to do things right and original.
May be it is because we care less and we do not appreciate the role of originality and how much value our works would add to the fields under which we study. Students often find themselves plagiarizing a whole class assignment while they remain aware of the consequences of such academic thefts. The whole sad truth is that plagiarism is committed every minute and second not only by students but adults alike. The central question therefore is that why do people commit plagiarism. Can we positively address this question in the context of human behavior and feelings?
It is within our knowledge the role played by internet in our lives. The role of technological advances is to make work easier and simplify our lifestyle. It is rather sad that in some instances, the reverse occurs and others bear the negative gains of technological advances. We need time to have a deeper insight on the merits of the internet. We must create a balance between following the simpler and easier path of copy and paste and coming up with an original work.
Internet has made plagiarism so easy and so simple. In our attempt to remain in fashion and keep up with the times, we abuse the technological advances and commit academic thefts. Irresponsibility and laziness have caught up with us at disproportionate levels. The right processes of undertaking our assignments seem long and tedious. Researching, reviewing, criticizing, collecting and questioning have become very boring and unnecessary processes.
A major inherited trait and human behavior that has made plagiarism thrive in all our academic aspects is laziness. We do not have time to follow procedures and copy paste our work with the belief that we can make them look better within the shortest time possible.
More profound during school years, laziness contributes significantly to plagiarism. The growth patterns of humans from teenage to young adulthood are often characterized by higher degrees of laziness and the desire to let things work on their own accord. This explains the reason why plagiarism is mostly committed during our undergraduate years of study. Another reason for this is that the most common form of punishment in this period of study is always warning as opposed to prosecution in adults. A lazy student would rather escape with a warning than fail to completely submit an assignment in time.
Our feelings that relate directly to intense academic work and concentrated analysis and involve the use of brain is very poor. Human beings tend to take a lot of their time involved in leisurely thinking activities at the expense of activities that demand accurate answers such as addressing research questions. Our brains are designed in a way that we tend to concentrate more on things that are more appealing to us. Since our feelings are affected by our surroundings, we tend to give little attention to things that demand that we draw inferences, comparisons and analysis and in turn put more of our time and effort on simplified facts. This is one major reason why plagiarism using resources from the internet is more common. Online searches provide millions of analyzed and synthesized data and facts at the touch of a button.
The last reason as to why we find it easy to plagiarize than to come up with our original work is the human weakness to desire fame and wealth within a short time and using the shortest means. This explains why a good number of renowned academic, literary, song writers and producers have become victims of plagiarism. A good example is Mariah Carey and Friedman’s case. Globally known for her talent as singer, producer and song writer, she had to pay Friedman $1 million for producing his song without permission. Human beings fear the reality of being poor and as such would use every available means at their disposal to escape from poverty.
The reality however, is that it is easier to become rich using foul play in contrast to following the long path. Writing a book whose contents is stolen from another source while knowing that it would record huge sales volumes definitely would be tempting. A very good case of “stay famous, look talented and remains rich” while plagiarizing.
In conclusion, the question we must answer is that are we humans capable of using the internet appropriately while avoiding plagiarism. The fact remains that plagiarism is wrong and cannot be tolerated at whatever levels. My efforts here to explain this form of crime in the context of human behavior and feelings does not mean I support plagiarism if it happens within these reasons. We must have the ability as humans to effectively control our behaviors and feelings.