Cryptomnesia or plagiarism

Christmas Essay Was Not His, Author Admits

Excerpt:

During a dress rehearsal, he wrote, a group of children spelled out the title of a song, “Christmas Love,” with each child holding up a letter. One girl held the “m” upside down, so that it appeared as a “w,” and it looked as if the group was spelling “Christ Was Love.” It was a heartwarming Christmas story from a writer known for his spiritual teachings.

Except it never happened — to him.

Mr. Walsch’s story was nearly identical to an essay by a writer named Candy Chand, which was originally published 10 years ago in Clarity, a spiritual magazine, and has been circulating on the Web ever since. Mr. Walsch now says he made a mistake in believing the story was something that had actually come from his personal experience.

Religion Writer Who Copied Work Draws Support of Readers

Excerpt:

In a lengthy apology posted on Beliefnet last Tuesday, where Mr. Walsch has been blogging since July 2007, Mr. Walsch said he believed he had cut and pasted Ms. Chand’s essay into his own computer files years ago and then had told the anecdote in lectures so many times that he came to believe it was his own.

Many fans accepted his apology and expressed support. “Too many people rely on you, Neale, and it would be a shame to give it up over a silly mistake,” a person using the identification “TC” wrote. Another person who signed her comment “Tracy W.,” wrote: “Stuff like that happens to me, and all of us, all the time.”

But some questioned whether this was the first time Mr. Walsch had made such a mistake. “Please people, you are wading into this wanting desperately or already deciding you are going to accept anything he says, or just, frankly, not care,” wrote Greg Ouellette.

In an e-mail message, Mr. Walsch said he had “no reaction to the comments.” However, he did post his own comment, with a reference to academic research about “inadvertent plagiarism,” or cryptomnesia, a documented psychological phenomenon in which people believe they are remembering events that never happened to them. He also reiterated his apology to Ms. Chand.

In an interview, Ms. Chand said she did not believe Mr. Walsch had suffered from cryptomnesia. “It’s like if I take my hand and I think your Rolex watch is so charming that I take your watch and put it in my purse, and then when you catch me I give an apology and say ‘oh, my goodness, I have no other excuse, it is yours, but my hand, I’m mystified by what my hand did,’ ” she said.

Comment: I once had a manager who would take my work and claim it for his own.