At the age of digital and everything electronic, I wonder have we all gone a little bit paranoid? In second life, there will be times when you look at something and think “Did they steal that? Or is it just a major coincidence?” We all make up stories (even I have, trust me) to explain the what ifs of everything from possible content theft to just coincidental use of the same shading.
Copyright of Mr Charles M. Schulz
Snoopy
**More after the bump**
What I am just trying to say is, can it be possible that we could be wrong sometimes? That it is not theft, it is not copying, it is not outright texture ripping, that it could just be coincidence? Can our instinct be wrong?
I am actually not just talking about SL here. There are times when we have gut feelings as human beings. Many people say we should trust them since gut feelings are there because intuitively, we would probably do or say or pick the right choices. But what if we did not know what we are doing or saying, what if we go into something blindly (i.e. someone you potentially think is stealing your content) and accuse said person with theft because our gut tells us to?
Do you think your gut should be trusted? Or do we have to look back, analyze and see how we can improve our techniques as intuitive human beings and use our ‘gut’ to help us, not hinder us? Tell me what you think!
![[Self-Pursuit] Sitting on beauty](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3018/2836429800_ca18e42417_t.jpg "[Self-Pursuit] Sitting on beauty")
I agree, Portia… I think it becomes very hard to look at something objectively when we suspect theft. I’ve accused people in the past, and wondered why the hell no one seemed to be able to see it but me — and I think that means I really was being too paranoid about it.
In SL, I’m fairly new… so I’m trying to keep my ideas very unique to avoid this. Because there’s always a possibility that no matter how honest I know I am, someone might come along and accuse me of copying just because we happened to have the same wonderful idea…
I’ll give you an example. The stuff I have on the walls right now, I doubt anyone would come up with on their own — it’s too weird. The Lao dress, eh, it’s so ice-skater-y and nymph-y that I would never accuse someone else of borrowing, because it’s very basic and general. That doesn’t mean someone else might come along and think I stole from them.
We can’t control what other people think, or prove our innocence beyond a shadow of a doubt, when “great minds think alike” is at fault.
Today I looked down at my Converse sneakers and thought, “hey, black canvas, white shoelaces, white threads — corset!” I immediately started to sketch it in my “to do” book, but suddenly I paused. “Shit, someone surely has done this already.” But there’s no way for me to check.
So I was literally caught between choosing to do it and wondering if someone would come along later and shriek “HEY, I DID THAT LAST YEAR”, or choosing to avoid it because it seemed likely. I’m still not quite sure what to do, to be honest. But these kinds of ideas are starting to crop up more and more frequently, and really, I think your post came along at the right time for me. I’m not really sure what the best course of action is in this case, but you’re right… while theft is rampant, I think it also causes us to suspect a lot more than is actually out there, when it’s our own designs or ideas on the line.
Thankfully I’m the kind of person who is happy to share an idea with someone if such a concidence comes up — so long as it’s obvious she or I are not making it up, so long as it’s clear it really was a coincidence. But I know a lot of people that won’t even go that far, won’t be comfortable with that idea. And that’s bordering on ridiculous, because nothing is truly original. It doesn’t mean we should stop trying, but it also means we shouldn’t trash every simple idea in favor of a more complex, possibly less interesting one just to keep our asses out of the gossip frying pan.
It’s an interesting discussion.
As for your question, I think the best answer I can give is “trust, but verify”. If you suspect, try to step far, far back in an objective manner and look at the context. I like to find my most objective friend and introduce the potential theft/coincidence in as least a biased way as possible and simply ask them, “what does this look like to you?” A smart, objective person will be able to tell you right off whether the ideas were very simple and must be coincidental, or if they think you’d better address the designer in question.
And if you have to go the latter route, the way the person talks to you will usually punctuate your suspicions. And it helps not to just start screaming and throwing things. If you’re genial and offer it up as a coincidence, and they still get defensive and block you, well, there’s a reason for it.
x.o.
Naoki
I mainly follow my gut feelings in 2 RL circumstances:
1. When I am driving to somewhere that I’ve been before, and can’t completely recall the way
2. When I am trying to decide whether a person can be trusted (eg. meeting up with someone I know thru the Internet, the person could be an axe murderer – I use my gut instinct to decide whether it is safe to meet – but I also take precautions like meeting in a public place and bringing a friend along, etc.)
Instinct can be wrong, which is why in scenario #2 I still take precautions. One wants to give the other person the benefit of the doubt, but at the same time no point taking stupid risks either.
When it comes to IP theft I think there would be ways to determine if something was 100% identical – it’s very hard to create something 100% the same – but you would need the tools and special know-how to prove it. But if it is enough alike to the naked eye, then it is hard to give the other person the benefit of the doubt. In this case it’s not just gut instinct but also a protective instinct – we want to protect our own creations and our rights – and the protective instinct is very very strong, more likely to have us doing or saying something which we might regret later.
@Naoki
I am very glad you would do the objective manner and actually step back and see what you can do before jumping to conclusions. I think we are getting a little bit paranoid with everything going on in SL, it’s good to be more objective than paranoid since paranoia will just make matters worse than better.
@Quaintly
Glad you acknowledged that Instincts (aka gut feelings) can be wrong. I think alot of people rely on it OFTEN. I am not saying it’s a bad thing but it certainly isn’t always the most effective way all the time.
Thanks for the comment, you guys!
-Portia <3