Advice from Weiss: 01/27
The CommuterWednesday, January 27, 2010
Question: What’s the big deal about plagiarism? I mean I know that teachers don’t want you to copy, but, really, copying is a way of learning, isn’t it? So, why is it such a big no-no to use something from someone else when you’re doing a report?
Answer: In his book “The Four Agreements,” Don Miguel Ruiz outlines four behaviors, which, if we would practice them, would make us a happier, more mentally healthy species. 1. Be impeccable with your word 2. Don’t make assumptions 3. Don’t take anything personally 4. Always do your best.
Ruiz makes it clear that the most important and most difficult of his “Agreements” is the first: Be impeccable with your word. It’s important for many reasons. One is that those closest to you will not be able to relate to your real needs, desires, talents, strengths, and weaknesses unless you are honest with them. Not just honest, but descriptive and clear about what you really think and feel. Without this kind of honesty and clarity, those you love most will not know you, and may relate poorly to you, based on a false impression.
Much like your friends and loved ones, your teachers need to know the real you. They are charged with helping your intellectual and personal development, a task that’s only possible if they know who their students are. Teachers will have a hard time knowing your learning needs and interests if you are using someone else’s words instead of your own. In a sense, they must learn about you in order to teach to you.
Ruiz points out another reason for being impeccable with your word. Many religious beliefs suggest that “life began with the word.” This is particularly clear in the Christian tradition, but most spiritual and philosophical beliefs point to our use of language, “the word,” as the most important aspect of personal integrity. And this is almost always the lesson behind the lesson: From English to philosophy to welding to nursing, the development of your character, your integrity, is always a part of things. In every class you take, there are two things going on: learning the subject matter of the course, and the personal development that is also, more subtly, being created.
So, when teachers talk about plagiarism, it may seem like a small issue, but they are really talking about a concept much larger than the paper you are writing. They are really discussing the importance of integrity to the development of character and to the culture we live in. By asking you to speak for yourself, from within yourself, they are giving you practice in the development of your own unique personhood. That’s why it’s important to avoid plagiarism and to be impeccable with your word.
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