I was reading this and thinking, nah, no way, I am actually aware of this and give credit where it's due, but then I read this...
... and yep. I do this exact thing. It's not conscious. I only become aware I do it once someone points out that I am literally repeating their idea back to them. I have a theory as to why this happens:
The data I gather from the world goes into one big pile. I can't sort it through while it's going on, as there's always something else to take notice of. At some later point during the day, after an activity has ended, after I'm finished with my work, when I'm relaxing -- that's the time when all the ephemera I've taken notice of during the day and stored in that big "for later use" pile start getting filtered through. It's like sorting a pile of laundry and dividing it by colours: useful, not useful, interesting. Attaching Fi values to things, basically. The reactions I do have during the day, because I'm not a blank slate, are from things that have previously been filtered through and I'm now utilising them... But to the point: in a big pile such of impressions, it's hard to tell where those impressions have specifically come from. I take an idea from the interesting pile, and the pile is so big I can't really tell whether it came from one person or another. But that's not important, because it's
interesting. So... I'm prone to repeat it to others without even knowing if it came from them or someone else
I guess the difference between someone self absorbed and someone more self aware is whether or not they apologize and explain they simply forgot, and then give credit where it's due.