Lethem is trying to make the point that plagiarism is not right but there is a difference in plagiarizing and using work that has become popular culture. Though, it is not acceptable to take someones work some pieces of work have become such common knowledge in today's society and such a huge part of society that it is not uncommon for them to be including in other forms of work. An example of this would be me referencing The Little Mermaid in some form of work I was doing. I am not stealing it because it is part of society.
Stealing work or plagiarism has been going on for a very long time and some of it is even unknowing. I personally, away from Lethem's opinion, think in today's society it is very hard to have a completely original thought because we are so exposed to outside sources. To write something completely non-bias or uncontaminated by outside sources is nearly impossible. And though, we should try to be conscious of plagiarism at all times it is often hard to be uninfluenced by other works.
Throughout history, work has been plagiarized but not always on purpose. People can plagiarize without physically finding a text, copy and paste, and putting it into a word document and writing their name on it as the author. There is plagiarizing that happens mentally, without fully understanding that you are copying it. Maybe, its a subconscious thought in your head that you did not even realize. There are so many forms of plagiarizing today. But, are they actually plagiarizing or just simply influence?
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