Good catch: I took a hard look and have to agree that the number and phrasing of the exact matches seem to be well above the level of coincidence. I posted this

Good catch: I took a hard look and have to agree that the number and phrasing of the exact matches seem to be well above the level of coincidence. I posted this on the site, curious as to what the reply will be. --- I posted a pointer to this on http://news.ycombinator.com/ http://news.ycombinator.com/ at http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=661440 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=661440 and this reply http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=661875 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=661875 pointed out exact matches for six sentences in an October 2005 essay by Paul Graham at http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html http://www.paulgraham.com/ideas.html here are the matches: [dating sites] They have millions of users, so they must be promising something people want. And yet they work horribly. Just ask anyone who uses them. [T]ake a luxury and make it into a commmodity. People must want something if they pay a lot for it. And it is a very rare product that can't be made dramatically cheaper if you try. Were you influenced by Graham's essay? The number and length of exact matches seem well above the level of coincidence.