Tabula Rasa

Tablua Rasa.

An absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals; a clean slate:
‘the team did not have complete freedom and a tabula rasa from which to work’

1.1 The human mind, especially at birth, viewed as having no innate ideas.

Are we born with a blank slate. ? i dont seem to share much with my parents even mannerisms or physical attributes, certainly not mentally or even a philosophical outlook.

Re: Tabula Rasa

We start with a clean slate and our parents and people in our lives bring us knowledge. We learned a lot from our forefathers throughout the ages.
Our slate is never clean, not unless it's something you want to forget about..
Hence the saying " Wipe the slate clean ".

Re: Tabula Rasa

So can we not absorb things when in the womb, how about music, and some seem to believe things like reading and talking to the unborn baby has advantages. I have not seen any studies to prove or disprove the theory`s.

Re: Tabula Rasa

I think things outside the womb can effect an unborn baby from the moment it has consciousness.....music...emotions and such.
Once born all the knowledge from the outside world and people close to them have an influence..

Must admit when I saw the title of this thread I thought it was something to do with Star Trek but alas it wasnt... but a good thread all the same Nom

Tabula Rasa is the name given to a region of space that was once desolate and empty but, after the events of Project Shiva, later possessed a number of Dilithium rich worlds.

Upon the initial survey conducted on the region, the Federation, Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire began immediate attempts to colonize the region and make use of its resources while, at the same time, stopping the attempts of the other powers from taking the valuable region of worlds.

Re: Tabula Rasa

I'm a believer in `racial memory` - something is passed down to us from our ancestors in our DNA. Ever wondered why animals act instinctively as soon as they are born? Many examples of this can be seen on David Attenborough's excellent Planet Earth series. Remember the new-born lizards trying to get to the sea as soon as they were hatched and being hunted by hundreds of snakes? While some made a dash for the ocean, one in particular stood stock still as it was approached by a snake. How would it know to do that considering it would have never seen a snake before, and how did the snakes know what time of year the lizards hatched? Memories from previous generations that are passed down perhaps and then classed as instinct?

Re: Tabula Rasa

I am sure we inherit traits from our parents, a predisposition to be good or bad at certain things even down to something like handwriting . Mine is awful and my sons looks just the same .

It has been shown that a fetus in the womb learns to recognise its mother's voice and can hear and react to music so there are some things embedded into the brain of a baby when it is born . There are also womb noises, the mothers heartbeat and breathing along with digestive sounds.

You can buy tapes of familiar womb sounds to play to babies to help them to sleep.

Re: Tabula Rasa

I do wonder about what we absorb in the womb. I hate the taste of potatoes, yet all my family loved them, genetics must play a part in what makes us, none of my lot were sporty unlike me,and i do understand how sound of a familiar voice plays a part.

But inheritance of parents predisposition to be good,or bad has plenty of examples otherwise.

Re: Tabula Rasa

I think it is printed into our DNA, how we largely turn out .

Re: Tabula Rasa

Migratory birds which turn up every year a few hundred metres from my home
follow a coastline route from Siberia, not as it is now, but as it was a million years ago.
How's that for 'genetic memory' ?

Re: Tabula Rasa

Those kind of facts always just amaze me Pumice.
Nature is just so truely, truely, wonderful in my opinion.