Tabula rasa; the epistemological thesis that individuals are born without built-in mental content and that their knowledge come from experience and perception. The tabula rasa thesis favours the "nurture" side of the nature versus nurture debate, when it comes to the aspects of one's personality, social and emotional behaviour, and intelligence...
Notable people who have written about tabula rasa: John Locke, David Hume and Jean-Jaques Rousseau.
Tabula Rasa was the 3rd episode of Lost Series 1 and for me, this is the proof that the writers have not decieved us in anyway, shape or form; by what they served us up in the series finale, and the last few episodes. They always knew what was going to happen in the end; it was just a case of how they were going to get us there and retain our interest...
In a Q&A session with Darlton on hitfix.com, immediately after Across the Sea was aired, Damon said: (When discussing why they decided to show the clip of Jack and Kate from the episode "House of the rising sun" at the end of Across the Sea) "We wanted to illustrate that by, at the very end of the show saying, "Oh, right, Jack and Kate and Locke are affected by the fact that Mother decided to raise her kids this way, and Jacob ended up bringing these people to the island." The idea was to say that this chapter of the series is significant to the story we've been telling you..."
Think about this statement in reference to tabula rasa; "favours the nurture side of nature versus nurture when it comes to the aspects of one's personality...". In Across the Sea we saw twin brothers raised deliberately differently by fake Mother and the result of her "nurturing" shaped Jacob's and the MiB's personalities differently; thus setting in motion a chain of events that lead to Jacob bringing Jack and the rest of the Lostie's to the Island. Jacob said he brought the Lostie's to the Island because they were like him; they were flawed and the reason they were flawed, which Darlton have investigated through all of their backstories, is via the nurturing (or lack thereoff) by their parents! Let's take Jack; his efforts were never good enough for his father, despite the fact he was a grade A student and a fantastic surgeon. This caused serious insecurities within Jack's personality and he always strived to be the very best he could be; to never fail, to never be happy with simply doing his best - to never let go!
Later in Jack's FST we see Jack as the top spinal surgeon that he is, but he now has a son and he works out emotional problems he has with his son, which he has caused by being a bad father; similar to the type of father Christian was to him. This is the scenario/alternate life that Jack has created for himself; to allow him to not become his father who he loved, but resented - thus Jack changes his approach with his son and begins to nurture him and treat him how a father should treat a son/child.
Then we see Jack's meeting with his father in the Church and there couldnt be a better way to end the show; his first and final opportunity to forgive his father and let go to all the anger and guilt that he held onto; as a result of his upbringing.
This is the "mistake" that Jacob makes reference too in "What They Died For" - he should have let go of the anger he felt towards his brother, for killing their fake Mother; because he knows now that she treated/nurtured them differently - maybe Jacob now realises she manipulated them and thus via her actions, she deserved to die. Maybe his mistake was trusting and staying with his fake Mother in the first place and abandoning his brother, and when they were both dead he had missed the opportunity to make ammends and "let go!"
The show for me is very much about redemption, moral and cultural ideals and to quote a line from another blog "the collection of losties putting their learned morals and pre-set ways aside to do what is right" - but right for them! I think that's what their FST was about; an opportunity for the Losties to do what was right for them; what they couldnt achieve in their "real" lives e.g. Jack with his son, Farraday with his music; which his mother never allowed him to pursue in his real life etc.
I think what it all comes back to is tabula rasa; a clean slate. The FST and life after death is their chance to live how they want too and make the right choices; regardless of how they have been raised, affected or victimised via their upbringing.
--Aldo25983 11:55, May 25, 2010 (UTC)