A clean slate — the philosophical idea that the mind begins as a blank tablet, with knowledge coming entirely from experience.
From Latin tabula rasa (scraped tablet). John Locke popularized the concept in 1689, arguing against innate ideas. The image is of a Roman wax writing tablet wiped clean, ready for new inscription.
Locke said the mind starts blank. Modern neuroscience says it does not — babies arrive with built-in expectations about physics, faces, and language. The tabula rasa was a beautiful democratic idea: everyone starts equal. It was also wrong. But the aspiration still matters.
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