DCP's ongoing problem with plagiarism

[_lostindc]

You should read the whole thread before calling the thread into question. It's an unassailable fact. And people have only casually scratched the surface. The dude is a serial plagiarizer. I've actually kicked around the idea of getting hold of his master thesis & dissertation, and checking them.

- Doc

That's the problem, I am so amazingly damned lazy these last few weeks that I know I won't read the entire thread. I now live a warm weather place, but I need more sun or I go into who gives a crap mode. Can I just retract my comments?

[_Lemmie]

I really didn't think this would happen again, but Peterson is back to his old plagiarism techniques. He reposted an old blog entry yesterday, that he originally posted March 1, 2017.

Both the original post and yesterday's re-post are plagiarized from the following passage:

A passage, titled Origin of the Earth, at infoplease.com:

Earth, along with the other planets, is believed to have been born 4.5 billion years ago as a solidified cloud of dust and gases left over from the creation of the Sun.

For perhaps 500 million years, the interior of Earth stayed solid and relatively cool, perhaps 2,000°F. The main ingredients, according to the best available evidence, were iron and silicates, with small amounts of other elements, some of them radioactive.

As millions of years passed, energy released by radioactive decay—mostly of uranium, thorium, and potassium—gradually heated Earth, melting some of its constituents. The iron melted before the silicates, and, being heavier, sank toward the center. This forced up the silicates that it found there.

After many years, the iron reached the center, almost 4,000 mi deep, and began to accumulate. No eyes were around at that time to view the turmoil that must have taken place on the face of Earth—gigantic heaves and bubblings on the surface, exploding volcanoes, and flowing lava covering everything in sight.

Finally, the iron in the center accumulated as the core. Around it, a thin but fairly stable crust of solid rock formed as Earth cooled. Depressions in the crust were natural basins in which water, rising from the interior of the planet through volcanoes and fissures, collected to form the oceans.

Slowly, Earth acquired its present appearance.

https://www.infoplease.com/science-heal ... igin-earth

Peterson is back to his usual attempts to hide what he is doing; perhaps becomes maybe, parenthesis go around 'relatively', 'forced up...that it found there' becomes 'forced... that it found there to rise up,' etc. His usual.

And here is the majority of Dan Peterson's 2019 blog entry, titled "An amazing thought: 'New find could be oldest evidence of life ever discovered" :

Remember that, according to the best current scientific thinking, the Earth began its existence as a solidified cloud of coalesced dust particles and gases remaining from the creation of the Sun.  

For maybe 500 million years, the interior of the planet remained solid and (relatively) cool, perhaps at about 2,000°F.  The main ingredients, according to current evidence, were iron and silicates, with small amounts of other elements, some of which were radioactive.  

As millions of years passed, energy released by radioactive decay—mostly of uranium, thorium, and potassium—gradually heated the Earth, melting some of its constituents.  The iron melted before the silicates and, being heavier, naturally sank toward the center.  This forced the silicates that it found there to rise up.  

After many years, the iron reached the center, almost 4,000 miles deep, and began to accumulate there.  Of course, there was nobody around at that time to witness the turbulence that must have occurring on the face of Earth—gigantic earthquakes and the bubblings of a still-rather unstable and occasionally liquid surface, exploding volcanos, and flowing lava covering everything in sight—accompanied by frequent bombardments of meteors and baked by solar rays because the Earth’s protective atmosphere hadn’t yet formed.  

Finally, the iron in the center accumulated as the planet’s core. Around it, a thin but fairly stable crust of solid rock formed as the Earth cooled.  Depressions in the crust formed natural basins in which water, rising from the interior of the planet through volcanoes and fissures, collected to form the oceans.
 
And all that had to happen before the Earth was ready for life to appear.
 
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... 4373950650

And here is Peterson's 2017 version, titled "New find could be oldest evidence of life ever discovered."

You'll notice that before re-posting his 2017 plagiarism, he changed one or two more words, indicating that he knows, in 2019, that he is still plagiarizing:

Remember that, according to the best current scientific thinking, the Earth began its existence as a solidified cloud of coalesced dust particles and gases remaining from the creation of the Sun.

For perhaps 500 million years, the interior of the planet remained solid and (relatively) cool, perhaps at about 2,000°F. The main ingredients, according to current evidence, were iron and silicates, with small amounts of other elements, some of which were radioactive.

As millions of years passed, energy released by radioactive decay—mostly of uranium, thorium, and potassium—gradually heated the Earth, melting some of its constituents. The iron melted before the silicates, and, being heavier, naturally sank toward the center. This forced the silicates that it found there to rise up.

After many years, the iron reached the center, almost 4,000 miles deep, and began to accumulate there. Of course, there was nobody around at that time to witness the turbulence that must have occurring on the face of Earth—gigantic earthquakes and the bubblings of a still-rather unstable and occasionally liquid surface, exploding volcanos, and flowing lava covering everything in sight—accompanied by frequent bombardments of meteors and baked by solar rays because the Earth’s protective atmosphere hadn’t yet formed .

Finally, the iron in the center accumulated as the planet’s core. Around it, a thin but fairly stable crust of solid rock formed as the Earth cooled. Depressions in the crust formed natural basins in which water, rising from the interior of the planet through volcanoes and fissures, collected to form the oceans.

And all that had to happen before the Earth was ready for life to appear.

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... vered.html

[paragraphs added for ease of reading]

[_Lemmie]

Well that was quick.

Here is Peterson's adjusted 2019 entry, apparently re-written in a failed attempt to look less like a plagiarized entry:

Remember that, according to current scientific consensus, the Earth began its existence in the same fashion that most if not all other objects in our solar system did, as a solidified cloud of dust particles and gases left over from the process that formed the Sun.  (They coalesced because of mutual and ever increasing gravitational attraction.)  

For maybe half a billion years, the interior of the planet remained solid and (relatively) cool, perhaps at about 2,000°F. But these conditions couldn’t last forever.  The main ingredients of the Earth’s interior, according to currently available evidence, were iron and silicates.  But there were also small amounts of other elements, some of which were radioactive.  

As millions of years passed, energy released by radioactive decay—mostly of uranium, thorium, and potassium—gradually heated the Earth, melting some of its constituents.  The iron melted before the silicates and, because it was heavier, naturally sank toward the center.  In turn, this forced the lighter silicates that its descent displaced to rise up toward the proto-planetary surface.  

After many years, that iron reached the center, and stability, at almost 4,000 miles deep.  

Finally, enough iron accumulated at the Earth’s center to become our planet’s core, more or less as we know it today.  Gravitation now kept it in place.  By contrast, the face of the Earth was still turbulent and unstable—with gigantic earthquakes and even occasional liquid bubbling.  Exploding volcanos pocked the Earth, and flowing lava covered everything in sight.  Because the Earth’s protective atmosphere hadn’t formed yet, solar rays baked it and meteors frequently bombarded it.  But the Earth began to cool, and a thin but (again) fairly stable crust of solid rock formed.  Of course, it wasn’t perfectly smooth.  There were depressions (and elevations) in the crust.  These formed natural basins.  Meanwhile, water was rising from the interior of the planet through fissures and via volcanic eruptions, and that water collected to form the primordial oceans.
 
And all of that had to happen before the Earth was ready for life to appear.
 
From the updated entry:

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/danpeters ... vered.html

So 500 million is now half a billion, etc., etc., etc.

I would label this mosaic plagiarism, as per the definition in BYU's honor code. If one of my graduate students had turned this in, I would give them ONE chance to correct the plagiarism.

If they turned it in again with a 'BYU Professor Peterson' rewrite, the paper would go to academic review for intentional plagiarism.

The 2017 plagiarized blog entry is also still plagiarized.

[_DrW]

Lemmie,

As usual, it appears that no amount of shaming is going to convince DCP to change his sloppy lazy ways.

As he continues to behave as a dilettante, should he really be considered as anything more?

To paraphrase Forest Gump, "Pretender is as pretender does."

[_Lemmie]

Lemmie,

As usual, it appears that no amount of shaming is going to convince DCP to change his sloppy lazy ways.

As he continues to behave as a dilettante, should he really be considered as anything more?

To paraphrase Forest Gump, "Pretender is as pretender does."

Yes. He seems to think adjusting an adverb and an adjective here and there does the job.

Here is re-write 3:

Remember that, according to current scientific consensus, the Earth came into being in the same fashion that most if not all other objects in our solar system did, as a solidified cloud of dust particles and gases remaining as “left overs” from the process that formed the Sun.  (They coalesced because of mutual and ever increasing gravitational attraction.)  

For maybe half a billion years, the interior of the planet remained solid and (relatively) cool, perhaps at a temperature of approximately 2,000°F. But these conditions couldn’t last forever.  The main ingredients of the Earth’s interior, according to currently available evidence and theory, were iron and silicates — various salts combining silicon and oxygen.  But there were also small amounts of other elements, including some (notably uranium, thorium, and potassium) that were radioactive.

As millions of years passed, energy released from those elements by slow radioactive decay gradually heated the Earth, melting some of its constituent materials.  The iron melted before the silicates and, because it was heavier, it naturally sank toward the center.  In turn, this forced the lighter silicates that its descent displaced to rise up toward the proto-planetary surface.  

After many years, that sinking iron reached the center — and stability — at almost 4,000 miles from the surface.

Finally, enough iron accumulated at the Earth’s center to become our planet’s core, more or less as we know it today.  Gravitation now kept it in place, because, obviously, to move further would be to move upward.  By contrast, the face of the Earth was still turbulent and unstable—suffering (as it were) gigantic earthquakes and even occasional liquid bubbling.  Exploding volcanos pocked the Earth, and flowing lava covered virtually all of it.  Moreover, because the Earth’s protective atmosphere hadn’t formed yet, solar rays baked its outer surface and meteors frequently bombarded it.  But the Earth inevitably began to cool, and a thin but (again) fairly stable crust of solid rock formed.  Of course, that crust wasn’t perfectly smooth.  There were depressions (and elevations) in it.  These formed natural basins.  Meanwhile, water was rising from the interior of the planet through fissures and via volcanic eruptions, and that water collected to form Earth’s primordial seas.
 
It was in these primeval oceans, most contemporary scientists believe, that the first stirrings of organic life occurred.  But all of the processes summarized above had to happen before the Earth was ready for biology to appear.
 
And then life arose with incredible speed, almost (it now seems) instantly.

[_grindael]

With all the effort to cover it up, he just could have studied the issue and wrote something original. What a buffoon.

[_Lemmie]

With all the effort to cover it up, he just could have studied the issue and wrote something original. What a buffoon.

I know, right?! Now he's got three versions out there. Ludicrous.

(And the 2017 entry? Still plagiarized.)

[_Stem]

I admit I don't give two flying f words about most of the content complaining about Peterson on this site. I try to care because it's so heavily brought up here. I just can't. But this plagiarism stuff is totally disappointing and is well worth the complaints.

[_Maksutov]

Hey, we can't disappoint Dan. He's counting on us. He needs us to have something to rant about. Otherwise he'd be peddling sad little excuses for scholarship.

[_Dr Exiled]

It's as if he wants to be caught or doesn't care if he is? His work is so obviously plagiarism, at times, that I can't think of any other explanation.