Discussion of the ''DCP / plagiarism'' thread

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

This picture from. Reddit was titled "Darth Plagiarist The Wise, Cheater of Tests":



And I was reminded of Darth Peterson's M.O. of skimming the Internet for answers he pretends are his own.

- Doc

[_Jesse Pinkman]

If the "Mea Culpa" blog is any indication I think we are at a stale mate here. I doubt any of DCP's fans will see any of this in a negative light and I doubt DCP's explanation will suffice for the folks here. Who said I wouldn't get to experience the Mopologetic wars of old

Agreed, a stalemate where he is counting on no one remembering his previous Mea Culpas:

Postscript: Some of my more obsessive and personally unpleasant critics have found a new passion, gleefully accusing me of plagiarism. They point to undeniable similarities between some of what’s written above and a 2002 column by Charles Krauthammer that I had completely forgotten.

These are very old notes. That’s important: Not merely that they’re old but that, as I said above when I first introduced them, they’re notes. This particular manuscript — it’s actually just a computer file — has lain dormant for many years, and it’s nowhere near being in its final state. For the most part, it’s not even continuous prose. And it’s not organized according to any outline nor in anything like the way it will be when it’s finished (should it ever be finished). It’s made up of isolated quotations, links, notes, paraphrases, reminders to myself, and so forth. I’m blogging parts of it as a way of dusting it off. Is it ready for publication? Emphatically not. Do I consider blogging the same as publishing? Emphatically not.

This sort of zealous public faultfinding grows tiresome. It’s wearisome to have one’s reputation assaulted constantly, and anonymously. (On the particular board where this is going on, it’s been going on for approximately ten years. Day after day, week after week, year after year. On any given day for a decade, roughly ten percent of the threads displayed on the board’s front page are dedicated to me. The word weird doesn’t begin to describe the phenomenon.)

I’m not very optimistic about change, though.

“Charity . . . is kind; . . . doth not behave itself unseemly . . . thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniquity” (1 Corinthians 13:4-6).
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeterso ... 9GUbKr1.99

[emphasis added]

One small point, although I agree overall it's a stalemate, I don't personally consider it to be one, because, as I have stated before, my intent is simply to document the ongoing situation. As a professor myself, I consider this type of casual plagiarism to reflect badly on the entire profession. Although I'm not an alum of BYU, I care that the Honor Code, especially as it applies to faculty members, is so casually ignored by this BYU professor who publishes other people's intellectual property without proper attribution.

I whole-heartedly agree with the reasons for exposing plagiarism as expressed by these authors in 2009:

Since we firmly believe that plagiarism in scholarship must be disclosed and openly discussed, in this case not least in order to prevent the further dissemination of other researchers’ intellectual property under the [wrong] name..., we were determined to publish our findings.

http://www.nnrh.dk/NNRH-hp/40.Cases.of.Plagiarism.pdf

Lemme, since you feel strongly about this, have you reported your findings to BYU? Do you plan to?

[_Lemmie]

Lemm[i]e, since you feel strongly about this, have you reported your findings to BYU? Do you plan to?

Why do you ask?

In another thread, I have addressed this:

Re: my intentions, I accomplish my full purpose by posting my findings here. I do it not because anyone else cares, but because I care. As a professor myself, I consider this type of casual plagiarism to reflect badly on the entire profession. Although I'm not an alum of BYU, I did put in three years there. I care that the Honor Code, which is taken seriously enough that it is invoked to further bludgeon sexual assault victims with imaginary self-guilt and to force non-member adjuncts to give up coffee in their private homes, is so casually and flippantly ignored by this BYU professor as he steals other people's intellectual property and publishes it as his own. I care because this same professor disparages and vilifies people who leave the LDS church, while almost daily engaging in dishonesty; a single incident of which would result in one of my students being put on academic probation, a second incident and they would be expelled. viewtopic.php?f=1&t=47373&p=1086278&hilit=plagiarism#p1086278

I asked you a question on page 3 of this thread that is apropos to your current question, but didn't get a response. Now that you're on this thread again, would you like to respond?

It must be frustrating to see your friend behave in this manner, repeatedly. Going around to the people that are noticing the bad behavior, publicly posted by your friend, and asking them not to notice seems to be a particularly futile exercise.

Arguing that there shouldn't be consequences for bad public behavior doesn't really address the actual issue, does it? If you don't mind my asking, rather than just trying to enable him by talking to others, have you considered discussing the situation with your friend directly?

[_Jesse Pinkman]

Lemmie, I actually do plan on speaking with Dan about this. My purpose is not to enable him. But you have to understand that I have a very long history on this site. There were several people on MDB who have initiated some rather insipid vendettas against Dan in the past that were both mean and moronic.

I’m not accusing you of doing that. That’s why I wanted to find out more regarding why you were pursuing this. Thank you for clarifying that.

As far as why I asked about you pursuing things with BYU, Dan is a friend. If you planned on pursuing things with BYU, that is serious business and could potentially ruin his entire career. If you were or are serious about pursuing this with BYU, I intend to give Dan a heads up so that he has the opportunity to defend himself.

I don’t consider that as enabling. As a professor yourself, I think that if you were accused of something that could devastate your career, you would want as much time as possible to prepare some sort of defense.

[_Lemmie]

Lemmie, I actually do plan on speaking with Dan about this. My purpose is not to enable him. But you have to understand that I have a very long history on this site. There were several people on MDB who have initiated some rather insipid vendettas against Dan in the past that were both mean and moronic.

I’m not accusing you of doing that. That’s why I wanted to find out more regarding why you were pursuing this. Thank you for clarifying that.

As far as why I asked about you pursuing things with BYU, Dan is a friend. If you planned on pursuing things with BYU, that is serious business and could potentially ruin his entire career. If you were or are serious about pursuing this with BYU, I intend to give Dan a heads up so that he has the opportunity to defend himself.

I don’t consider that as enabling. As a professor yourself, I think that if you were accused of something that could devastate your career, you would want as much time as possible to prepare some sort of defense.

I'm surprised you haven't yet spoken to your friend about this, because it has been going on for a very long time. His plagiarism has been publicly documented for years. In the last several months, Peterson himself has acknowledged publicly the plagiarism documentation found in this thread and several other related threads. In light of that, your comment about you needing to give him a heads up so he can have time to prepare a defense doesn't sound quite right. I'm only one of many who has documented his plagiarism. Did he send you here to make this request? Are you seeking out all the people who have documented his plagiarism to make this request?

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

I've actually been kicking around the idea of ordering his UCLA dissertation and running it through some plagiarism checkers. I had forgot that until the odd synchronicity of one academic's outright stolen valor claims and this thread documenting Mr. Peterson's well-documented plagiarisms.

I don't think anyone should feel defensive of these two BYU professors. If I were the institution I'd want to know if the people I employ and represent our good name are honorable men or not. No one is bigger than the organization they represent.

I can tell you right now that Hugh Nibley is a huge crap ball for making up stories about his WWII experiences and leveraging them into faith-promoting narratives. It's utterly despicable, and I'm starting to think that Mr. Peterson's career isn't quite up to par with the reputation he has crafted for himself.

- Doc

[_Maksutov]

As far as why I asked about you pursuing things with BYU, Dan is a friend. If you planned on pursuing things with BYU, that is serious business and could potentially ruin his entire career. If you were or are serious about pursuing this with BYU, I intend to give Dan a heads up so that he has the opportunity to defend himself.

I don’t consider that as enabling. As a professor yourself, I think that if you were accused of something that could devastate your career, you would want as much time as possible to prepare some sort of defense.

Whoa. Come on, if Peterson's career is ruined, don't blame it on the people who caught him in his misdeeds. Blame him. He knows better. Friendship doesn't excuse his behavior. Should we blame Lynn Packer for Paul Dunn's exile? I guess many do.

[_Jesse Pinkman]

As far as why I asked about you pursuing things with BYU, Dan is a friend. If you planned on pursuing things with BYU, that is serious business and could potentially ruin his entire career. If you were or are serious about pursuing this with BYU, I intend to give Dan a heads up so that he has the opportunity to defend himself.

I don’t consider that as enabling. As a professor yourself, I think that if you were accused of something that could devastate your career, you would want as much time as possible to prepare some sort of defense.

Whoa. Come on, if Peterson's career is ruined, don't blame it on the people who caught him in his misdeeds. Blame him. He knows better. Friendship doesn't excuse his behavior. Should we blame Lynn Packer for Paul Dunn's exile? I guess many do.

Where did I say that I blamed Lemmie or anyone else? That’s not what I said or what I was doing. What I said was that when you accuse, either right or wrongly, something of that magnitude, I wanted to give my friend an opportunity to defend himself.

[_Doctor CamNC4Me]

Where did I say that I blamed Lemmie or anyone else? That’s not what I said or what I was doing. What I said was that when you accuse, either right or wrongly, something of that magnitude, I wanted to give my friend an opportunity to defend himself.

Is it an accusation when it's been proved beyond a shadow of a doubt? At this point this is more of a documentary than an investigation.

- Doc

[_Jesse Pinkman]

Lemmie, I actually do plan on speaking with Dan about this. My purpose is not to enable him. But you have to understand that I have a very long history on this site. There were several people on MormonDiscussions.com who have initiated some rather insipid vendettas against Dan in the past that were both mean and moronic.

I’m not accusing you of doing that. That’s why I wanted to find out more regarding why you were pursuing this. Thank you for clarifying that.

As far as why I asked about you pursuing things with BYU, Dan is a friend. If you planned on pursuing things with BYU, that is serious business and could potentially ruin his entire career. If you were or are serious about pursuing this with BYU, I intend to give Dan a heads up so that he has the opportunity to defend himself.

I don’t consider that as enabling. As a professor yourself, I think that if you were accused of something that could devastate your career, you would want as much time as possible to prepare some sort of defense.

I'm surprised you haven't yet spoken to your friend about this, because it has been going on for a very long time. His plagiarism has been publicly documented for years. In the last several months, Peterson himself has acknowledged publicly the plagiarism documentation found in this thread and several other related threads. In light of that, your comment about you needing to give him a heads up so he can have time to prepare a defense doesn't sound quite right. I'm only one of many who has documented his plagiarism. Did he send you here to make this request? Are you seeking out all the people who have documented his plagiarism to make this request?

No, he did not send me here. And frankly, I have had a lot of things going on in my own life. I haven’t checked out this site day in and day out. Excuse me for not responding sooner to a thread or topic that you started. Yes, others have mentioned the plagiarism issue. When I have spoken with Dan about these incidents in the past, he basically told me the same things that he has publicly stated and I accepted him at his word. But YOU initiated THIS thread, and it appears to me that you are determined to bring things to a head. The only point I am trying to make in my response is that you aren’t just playing some kind of game. These are real people and real livelihoods that you are f***ing around with.

Maybe I’m overly sensitive about this because I lost a job due to a layoff and was out of a job for 7 months. I was so depressed I was suicidal. All I’m saying is that when you start accusing people of things in a public forum, it is serious and there are serious consequences that can occur as a result.