Tabula Rasa & Reality

An idea that particularly stood out to me from “A Wide Landscape of Snow”, a chapter of Maps of the Imagination: The Writer as Cartographer by Peter Turchi, is tabula rasa. Turchi calls this “the blank slate of opportunity”, an apt description in the context of blanks in writing and the world at large. A further search revealed that tabula rasa is a theory which argues that the human mind is blank at birth, and all knowledge is imprinted on it through perspective, experience, and other reactions to the external world. There is no prior or shared knowledge, only a world of potential to fill in blank with one’s own unique story. 

In terms of psychology, I connected this theory to the nature vs. nurture debate. Innatism defends nature, while tabula rasa supports nurture. Are we naturally/biologically born with prior or shared knowledge? Or is our mind entirely shaped by the environment around us? These questions are quite thought-provoking to me. Another provocative section of this chapter is the exploration of reality/other worlds, particularly through the use of Lolita as an example text. Reality, while literally objective, is experienced subjectively. Fiction presents new realities, or warps current ones. It can be argued that the number one reason for reading fiction is to be transported into the artist’s world, whether for enjoyment or escape. In Lolita, a similar occurrence takes place in the story itself. Humbert attempts but fails to create a fantasy world where Delores is transformed into Lolita, an innocent into a nymphet. We as humans try our best to make realities that fit our desires, but they do not always become real.