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Or maybe it is clever in the way people reuse work in real life in not so nefarious ways.</p>
<p>Maybe it is clever in the way object oriented programmers specifically program reusable classes, objects and methods, and how I would have been ridiculed and likely failed my computer courses had I not done so.</p>
<p>Or maybe it was like my electronic design courses and labs, where, for example we first built a DC power supply, then were instructed to use that supply to power amplifiers and filters, which we also reused in later projects. I designed a phase-locked loop in a junior level design class that I reused for my senior project. Everyone did similar things. The professor would likely have laughed in our faces if we asked if that was permissible.</p>
<p>My buddy has about 10 patents for drug delivery mechanisms. He tells me it is startling how little people have to change to get new patents, and that they are not only allowed to patent relatively minor changes, but that they are ordered by their employer to do so. I’m not sure if that is true, but I don’t see why he would lie to me.</p>
<p>It is only in some places that redoing work to address the overlapping assignments is considered noble. As I’ve stated ad nauseum, I understand it is verboten is certain areas of academia. But let’s not pretend it is obviously inherently immoral or stupid.</p>