Indexed

I do not feel the kick in the gut when somebody imitates my work. I suspect the feeling is in large part due to how you are socialized.

This is pure speculation - but it is probably important to our social status that we are recognized for our contributions. If others can shamelessly take credit for all our brilliant ideas, they will increase in social status, while we seem not to contribute anything. Thus it makes sense that we would have a deeply seated, hardwired resentment for other people taking credit for our hard work.

Even if somebody copies you and then attributes the work to you, some of the credit for the idea still goes to that person rather than to you. Attributions are often overlooked by 'the public' and the social status often still goes to the person they got it from.

The power of this kick in the gut may lessen the more comfortable you are with your position, and how well esteemed you feel by the people around you. You may be less opposed to having your work copied if you feel, on a deep, emotional level, that you are still in general highly respected for your contributions even if you 'lose' a few to other people copying them and taking credit.

Which reminds me of this comic by Jessica Hagy: http://thisisindexed.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/card2752.jpg

Relevant to the discussion at hand: http://thisisindexed.com/2012/12/somebody-teach-this-kid-to-fish/

I think the age matters to give appropriate advice and direction. With the case of the 14 year old, they don't have the life experiences to be able to get certain analogies, and they have a different set of opportunities available to them. At 14, you can prep differently, you can go to college for computer science. For the 40 year old weekend hobbiest, going back to college is generally not an option, so the path they have to take to get proficient is definitely different than the options the 14 year old has.