Loss of Plagiarism Innocence

Let me just say that I appreciate that the order in which Dr. Schirmer gave us the articles for this week's readings seemed to have a theme, at least for me. I went from confusion over the first article (a work of plagiarism) to sheer awe at the next (the statistics of the scientists' survey), to even further awe at the next (a blog about what true plagiarism looks like) to understanding and answered questions for the last article (a clear outline of what plagiarism really is, and how it should be handled by teachers, students, and administrators). I say this because, when I read "The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism," I somehow missed the fact that was staring me in the face, that this was the famed plagiarized piece we were told we would be reading. As I read the article, I was getting great ideas about quotes and points of the essay that I would use in my blog, and loved the fact that this was the first piece I read because it seemed so useful...and then I read the "key." Has anyone ever seen the episode of Two and a Half Men where Charlie is teaching Jake to lie, and Jake says in understanding, "Oh!" and then "I think I just lost my innocence." This is exactly how I felt when reading this key. After that, I was appalled that someone could plagiarize so well; I thought that teachers just used the idea of plagiarism to scare us all into writing our own works. Which is why it was even more surprising when I read "What Plagiarism Looks Like." I had no idea that people--highly esteemed people, at that--could actually pull off such a scheme, or would even try to pull off such a scheme.
My confusion and naivete about plagiarism was only enhanced when I read, "Scientists explain why they plagiarize." I guess whenever I think of plagiarism, I have always thought of it in two ways: one, the kind in which the student does not know he or she is plagiarizing and so is forgiven, or two, the kind in which an immature, pressed-for-time, or downright lazy student plagiarized and so was expelled from his or her school. Honestly, this article opened my eyes; plagiarism has some serious repercussions that I never imagined, like changing the data of projects, and therefore changing the way in which medical procedures are performed. The fact that someone would copy or reuse such vital information astounds me by its level of immorality.
Throughout all this, I have to ask myself, have I plagiarized before? The first article, though it is just the works of a bunch of authors strung together to make an outstanding essay, makes a good point, that is, that in nearly all works of art some level of what we know as plagiarism is involved. No, we do not all copy someone else's work and use their exact words without giving them due credit, but we do borrow each other's ideas and repeat themes and ideas over and over again in our own works. Essentially, I must face the fact that we are all plagiarists, whether we like it or not.