Tabula rasa is something that appealed to John Locke, an English philosopher who was born in 1632 and died in 1704. Locke used the phrase to describe how mankind's mind is a tabula rasa or a blank slate and it is only with experience that mankind's personality and identity becomes formed. According to Wordiq, over time the meaning has changed. Now, the philosophical meaning has come to include the influence of society as well on the formation of a person's identity.
In computer science, tabula rasa refers to developing agents that are autonomous and have the capacity to plan toward goals as well as reason but that have no prior knowledge of their environment.
Tabula rasa is something that some people use to refer to racism as well as sexism. In other words, because mankind is a blank slate, then racism and sexism are not natural.
For some, tabula rasa is a belief that men and women can determine their own fate versus the influence of society determining it for them.
For others, tabula rasa means the desire to begin anew. In other words, if someone wanted to leave an old job, move to another state and get a new one, that person may describe the event as a tabula rasa, or a fresh start.