I think that taking credit for a project you didn’t work on is like telling a lie and even when propaganda has it’s place, it should not be based on false facts. It could result in the same as the problem we had in Europe around 1940… depending on “the project”.

http://thegraphicsleague.com/brownleathersleighbeds/?p=6

It was a subtle (too subtle?) attempt on my part. Tara would and will spend much time making sure that Cory gets credit – Mr Talky Pants will neither credit Cory for the origination or Tara for the popularization and furthering of the concept. It’s the part that irks me. We really need to credit each other when we can… but there are those who never correct a misimpression even when given the chance. If they didn’t exist? I think the rest of us would be less worried about the issue. If the Mr. TPs of the world weren’t out there making a living off of letting people believe they are creators and collaborators then we’d probably all be more inclined to let things slide.

Wishes and horses tho… :/

“If Mr. Talky Pants claimed to be the originator of the term whuffie, I’d stand right up and say “ahem… you don’t look a thing like Tara.”

But it’s a lovely example of how tricky and twisty it is to keep attributions accurate… it was Cory Doctorow who originated the concept and term “whuffie” — a point Tara has been taking great pains to emphasize in her book, talks, interviews, articles. The fact that despite all of her (in my opinion) very strong efforts to credit the origin of the whuffie concept to Cory, a large group of smart people (who obviously weren’t Doctorow fans) still assume it came from Tara makes me realize just how hard this is.

So, it’s now possible that someone could see, for example, Cory Doctorow interviewed about Whuffie and think he was ripping off Tara. I have no idea what should be done, but it does make for interesting discussions

Although I totally know what you are talking about (dated an academic for 3 years – have experienced the technical realm through observation/proxy) and know what the reservations are, I would much rather see an idea (or at least MY ideas) spread rather than be worried about who is getting credit for them.

When I worry about who is getting credit, I stifle the growth of the idea. And no idea – whether academic, technical or business – comes to someone in a vacuum (no idea is formed without the influence of other ideas), so who gets the credit ultimately? Plato? Homer? This is also why I’m so down on patents and copyright as well. Yes, it protects people from ideas being ‘stolen’, but it also prevents an idea from growing naturally, being built on by other thinkers/doers and coming to that place of transcendence we need to reach.

I watched my ex freak out too many times because an idea was being used across the world – MUST have been lifted from that article in such and such conference proceedings – instead of dropping that person (who obviously thinks like you) a line and collaborating on something much bigger…giving the idea a chance to go from good to amazing.

I sometimes wonder if the reason we haven’t found the cure for Cancer or AIDS is because of this idea of credit (in the formalized legal sense of patents).

You can tell me “well, it SHOULD be this way”, but I’d challenge you to go out and find somebody in an academic discipline to give up credit on their research or not be bothered when somebody uses their work without credit because “Well, it DOES help spread the idea and that’s what really matters, right ?”

Sorry to dump on your post like this, but as a technical person working in a technical field, it is important that credit really be given where credit is due and for people like Mr. TP to be reminded of where ideas come from and called out on what he’s doing if he persists.

You raise a good point. Even though fighting for your OWN credit looks a bit childish, I don’t think there is anything wrong with fighting for your friends’ credit. For instance, I used the quote by the Mr. Talky Pants, but I made sure I credited everyone else working on the project in my talk (and at the end of the presentation). I also make sure I correct anyone who I hear/see mis-crediting. For instance, the other day, someone blogged that Robert Scoble was one of the founders of BarCamp. I know that isn’t true, so I left a comment in the post to let the blogger know that it was Matt Mullenweg, Ryan King, Andy Smith, Chris Messina, Eris Stassi and Tantek Çelik (I think I got them all) and Ross Mayfield provided the space. I made sure the proper people got the credit and because I’m only a friend, the blogger thanked me and updated the post.

But yes…you are right. We need to help our friends out by correcting those that credit Mr. Talky Pants wherever we see it happen.

And to Ari’s point, credit isn’t totally unimportant…it’s just not the MOST important thing. It’s still good to credit the source. I always try to. I may even OVER compensate at times.

I’ve always said that I don’t care if someone takes credit for my work or ideas as long as they let me *do* or *create* or *implement* them. Pretty much a ‘you can tell the world it was all you as long as you give me the wherewithall to set it in motion’ attitude.

Until recently that is. I’ve seen people (not just one, mind you) crediting my work and ideas to someone else (not anyone one specific person) and turn around and tell me how brilliant that person was. It turns out it’s hard to swallow when a third party wants you to agree to someone else’s worthiness of praise based on something that you originated.

Do we create ideas in a vaccuum? Heavens no. I make a point of praising those whose ideas, contributions, or actions provided the foundation for my own.

But what are we to do when Mr. Talky Pants not only takes credit for our work/ideas/projects but also takes credit for that of other people? I might swallow my pride and resort to my “I don’t care as long as Mr. TP facillitates what I’m doing” but what about when he takes credit for your work? or someone else’s I care about? Do I stay silent?

I’ll be honest, I don’t.

I may be a martyr to my own ideas and getting them ‘spread around’ as you put it, but I’m far more defensive of my friends. If Mr. Talky Pants claimed to be the originator of the term whuffie, I’d stand right up and say “ahem… you don’t look a thing like Tara.”