Stolen thoughts and meals

The other day, I accused @dwinblood and @denmarkguy of stealing my work. They aren't the only ones. I have found there are several at least in Steemit that seem hell bent on taking my thoughts and posting good content based upon them before I have even had the chance to finish my writing, or thinking for that matter.

I accused them of hacking my Wordpress where I develop my drafts. But it doesn't end there. They are at times stealing, even plagiarising straight from my mind. I do not understand how they are doing this because I keep it air gapped and off the wifi.

Of course, they aren't really stealing my work, they are thinking along the same lines as myself. Often from different perspectives but the subjects could appear to be cut and paste at times or as if we have colluded in a smoky room.

This got me thinking. And I am typing as fast as possible now because I am pretty sure the two of them are asleep on the other side of the world and I have an opportunity to beat them to it.

The reason we often have similar subject matter is partly because we read each others work, partly because there is overlap in our topic interest areas and partly because we are looking to do the same thing through our posts.

Reading each others words will help inspire next thoughts so it is likely that sometimes that leads in the same directions. Our topic interest areas will also sometimes align at the right time to further bring our thinking and mental tracks of thought together. And trying to do the same thing is loosely based on improving the positions of ourselves and the people we associate with and there are many ways to do this and sometimes they too will overlap.

The improvement is not through lists and rules, if anything, quite the opposite. It is through stories and examples, anecdotes and humour. Little observations of life that extrapolate out to societal problems, political issues or just a path to a little more fun and enjoyment.

I would take a stab in the dark that both of the people I mentioned are very similar in real life and over a drink at a bar, we could have some very animated and productive discussions. But, we are thousands of kilometres apart, so the discussions are through Steemit instead. And they may not even be directly with each other, they are across our posts and comments and include everyone else here in the community.

For those that read us all regularly, you will find similar topics and sometimes similar views but often, the perspectives can be very different indeed. Our approach to a subject can be from very different angles and with very different styles. This is a great way to build understanding across a wide audience.

I am not saying we are trying to brainwash you, at least for me, it is quite the opposite. It is about freedom of thought and expression, independence, responsibility and agency. I am selfish because the better everyone else is, the better it is for me also.

Which leads me to the real point of this post. Our playing ideas off each other and at times 'stealing' thoughts indicates a larger issue. It is the old adage, 'you are what you eat'. If we were to consume a narrow range of entertainment news, that is what we would discuss and we would steal ideas just the same. If we were sports fanatics that were only interested in Curling, then that is what we would look at and get into the nitty gritty of broom selection and best waxes for our stones.

From what those two write about, they apparently eat from a wide range of information with plenty of fibre and the think deeply upon it. Do you know what fibre does for the body? It aids digestion and keeps you regular. Essentially, cleans the sh*t out.

This is not an attempt to get you to read me or the others, (I do recommend reading them though) it is to consider what you consume in general. It has to be a balanced diet for an over investment in any one meal source is going to end with nutrient deficiency in some key areas that may weaken what you require to be strong.

The beauty of Steemit is that we can fill our feeds with what we want without some algorithm selecting what we see and what we don't. Rather than fill it with all the candy we can eat, find a few authors that will challenge your views, question your world and add them to your feed.

Sometimes you may even give them a read and find that they can add fibre to your candy too through varied perspectives. Sometimes it will be uncomfortable and you will disagree. Nothing wrong with that either. Engage with them because perhaps there is something important to you that if given the cue, they will think about and come back with a post that is tailored to help. Not advice per se, perspectives that drive your own creativity further.

I wrote a post the other day about some Steemit opportunities in regards to strengthening the community and our world. It is idealistic I know but possible in my view. To do this, it takes a strong community, as with any revolution. There are many content creators already on board, even unknowingly. Find them and eat from their plate too.

Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]

Hopefully, the others are still sleeping and I can get this out before one or both of them steal it from the tip of my tongue.