Plagiarism is defined as “the act of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as your own.”
Everything is plagiarism. Originality does not exist. Much of what you do and say is a product of those around you. You steal body language, voice tone and phrasing without giving any credit to whomever you copied.
For example, political views are usually the same as one’s parents. While one might have slightly different ideas, the stance which one takes on most issues is more often than not the same. In a conversation, when citing ideas, one usually never says, “My father told me that.” When you were a baby, you imitated people around you. The way your parents, older siblings and even television characters acted had a huge effect on shaping who you are. This process continues throughout your life, as everything you see and hear is absorbed and regurgitated as if it was your own. In the arts, many are heavily criticized for not being original enough or taking ideas from another artist. This is the way that artists develop their skills. Art is a collaboration and is not created in a vacuum. Originality does not exist. Innovation exists, but to chastise a person for not being a completely unique individual is unrealistic. Collaboration, or in some cases “stealing,” is almost necessary and much more practical than expecting a person to come up with ideas solely. Every thought you have is a product of something else. Every decision you make is based on knowledge someone else has given you, whether you heard it, read it or saw it. You have adopted many of these thoughts and ideas as your own. Innovation is the key to evolution in all fields. One way to achieve innovation is to build off of what already exists. This does not mean one is confined to what already is but is only confined to what could be; what could be is unimaginable. To put a high punishment on plagiarism, in schools and society, denies the fact that life is a collective experience powered by individuals.
After all, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.