Stealing a Thesis Idea...

[DanaC]

Originally Posted by Perry Winkle

I'd say forget about it.

He may have had the idea in his emergency thesis bag before you talked to him about using it. He may be fucking with you or just incompetent.

Regardless, an idea is worthless without implementation. Ideas are not unique to individuals nor are they limited resources. They aren't something over which you can exert proprietary control. The same ideas spring up in multiple places and success comes with little regard to who "thought of it first."

Write the best paper you can. That's about the only reasonable course of action.

It's not just a paper, its a thesis. Universities spend half their time ramming down their students' throats the 'don't accidentally plagiarise' message and this tutor is giving away Bri's ideas for her thesis? It's not like we're talking a mid term essay. This is the fucking thesis, it all leads to it. Trying to come up with something original enough to be worthwhile, in an Arts and Humanities subject is really fucking difficult. I am currently tearing my hair out on that very issue, as is half my year.

I'd say something. I'd be fucking furious.

Ideas are not unique to individuals nor are they limited resources. They aren't something over which you can exert proprietary control.

Very much depends on the idea. If your 'idea' amounts to a new way of looking at a topic that sheds new light onto it, damn right you can exert proprietary control over it. If that tutor wants to have a grab bag of emergency ideas for the students who are struggling, he should bloody well go off and think of a few, not steal the idea of a student who's taken it seriously enough to have one. It was clearly good enough to steal,. therefore it was good enough to use. And, no, if sombody else decides to do that idea now, it'd be a bloody dangerous one for Bri to do.

Christ on a bike, I'd not let that one rest. Not a fucking chance in hell.