I’m personally unconvinced by pro-plagiarism arguments, because I think they often mischaracterize plagiarists as free thinkers who value ideas more than the “brand names” by which those ideas are presented.

From what I’ve seen, those who plagiarize most often–and by these, I mean advertising executives, commercial television producers and the like–do so because they have no regard for ideas or for intellectuals. To them, an idea is merely something to provide “content” to which commercial ads, their real message, can be attached. The person who created the idea is beneath their contempt in a world where personal worth is judged on the sole basis of financial success.

Even if you believe that nobody ever has an original though or an innovative idea, attribution of sources not only pays them due respect, but provides metadata which may help the reader determine how reliable your ideas are.

Finally, those who argue that all ideas are based to some extent on ideas created by others miss the point: Plagiarism isn’t the act of merely basing one’s ideas on another’s. Plagiarism is presenting someone else’s ideas, word for word, as though they were your own.

If you’re truly unable to generate an original thought, then at least save yourself some trouble and embarrassment–paraphrase.