Originality, Part 2

So I was asking about the "simultaneous emergence" question, and then I was talking about the Red Victorian Bed and Breakfast in the Haight-Ashbury... so what did I happen onto while flipping channels last night? None other than a travel show doing a featurette on the Red Vic in the Haight-Ashbury! They didn't discuss the communal pooper though, so I have that aspect of the story to myself, anyway. No, that's not true: if I'd had it to myself, there'd not have been a story at all...

Communal bathroom conundrum.

When, as a Bed and Breakfast guest, I walked in on a poor old hippy bitty in the middle of her morning constitutional, was it my fault for not knocking, or her fault for not bothering to lock the door and thereby failing to switch the "vacant" indicator to "occupied"?

Why my ideas are never original.

I think there's a word for the sudden simultaneous (but seemingly unconnected) emergence of many instances of a single idea. For example, it took millions of years for humans to learn to make fire, but suddenly everybody was doing it. Does anybody know what the word is for that?

"Uh huh. Really? Oh no! Sure. Yeah. Absolutely. You bet. Why not? I know what you mean."

I wonder what percentage of the vocal reactions I provide in the course of a typical conversation are obligatory rather than genuine. What would happen if I swore off all token responses? Would I be more honest, or just more woodenly awkward?

The Exciting Conclusion...

...it turns out he's okay.