February 13: Tabula Rasa

Yesterday I finished priming the wall in our band room/office in preparation for that gorgeous coat of classic avocado. I used a grey tinted primer, best for deep colored top coats. Afterwards, the walls looked amazing. They shined with a silvery luster and offered a delightfully pure blank slate. My very own tabula rasa, I thought to myself. I realized that I haven't thought about "tabula rasa" in over a decade, since my days of studying psychology and theology in high school, college, and grad school. In case you don't know, tabula rasa translates to "clean slate" or "blank slate" in Latin, and refers to the concept that we are born with a blank slate that can be written on with whatever we want during life. The idea can be traced back to Aristotle's treatise De Anima ('On the Soul') in  350 BCE where he described the "unscribed tablet" of the human soul. In the 13th century, St. Thomas Aquinas used Aristotle's idea to contrast with Plato's idea that the human mind pre-existed somewhere in the heavens, before being sent down to join a body here on Earth at birth. But in the 17th century, John Locke popularized the idea and emphasized the freedom of individuals to author their own soul, claiming that individuals are completely free to define the content of their character. 

I have a love hate relationship with the idea of the tabula rasa. I like it when used to describe the possibilities of starting over with a clean slate (because I so very often need this possibility). I delight in the fact that I can start over again, with a tabula rasa of my very own, like I am trying to do now with my life. But I don't like it when it is used to describe human nature, because science refutes the idea that we are born completely blank. I believe in the science of innatism, which holds that the mind is born already in possession of certain knowledge. Tabula rasa would emphasize that only nurture affects the development of a person, while science has proven that both nature AND nurture influence people. As much as I sometimes hate to think about all that I have inherited from the genetics of my family, science definitely has proven that there are some things we are just simply born with. Instincts, reflexes, genes, all "nature". Nurture is definitely also immensely influential, but it is just a plain scientific truth that we are not born blank. 

I see this especially in my cats. They have definitely been born with certain instincts that they definitely did not learn from me or from their mothers (since they were all orphaned as babies). 

Out of curiosity, I googled some basic animal and human instincts.

Cats are born with instincts to:

• Mark their territory (by rubbing all over our furniture and legs)
• Knead. (to encourage milk production in their mothers)
• Sit in cardboard boxes (to feel safe and secure) If they were out in the wild, they would not want to be unprotected in an open area because this would make them more susceptible to predators. Felines also have a natural instinct to ambush. By hiding in small tiny spaces they are able to watch and observe their surroundings from a distance.

Humans are born with instincts to

• Fear of snakes and spiders
• Respond to the cries of infants
• Do anything for our survival (which includes things like denial, revenge, tribal loyalty, greed and our urge to procreate). Interestingly these are actually quite detrimental to the existence of the world. Our economic and social systems encourage greedy behavior, which is leading to more and more poverty and the devastation of the land and our natural resources. Our instinct to procreate is leading to over population. 

It's interesting to me to consider what truly is "human nature" and how it is that we can possibly fight against these natural instincts that do not actually serve humanity, in order to evolve and to be better than what we are now. I sometimes think that this is the fight that prophets of all eras have waged with humanity. People like Jesus and Buddha and Gandhi and MLK were trying to fight against the natural urges of humanity to be mean and selfish and only look out for themselves, with seemingly the simple message to love one another. Can we ever win this fight?  While sometimes I feel hopeless in this battle, I do delight in learning about the possibilities and of imagining a more evolved and utopian society. While we may not be born with a blank slate, perhaps we can erase some of our hatred, selfishness, greed, and anger from our slates and learn to love. That would be delightful. 

With delight,

♥Jamie