Tabula Rasa Archives

Tabula Rasa: The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes

What grounds are necessary for holding a person morally responsible for their actions? While we generally acknowledge that intention, awareness, and some degree of control…

Isabella HanaJune 9, 2025

Spiegeloog 438: Chaos Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: The White Shroud

Antanas Škėma was a Lithuanian writer, playwright and actor, commonly referred to as the father of Lithuanian modernism. Living and suffering through two world wars,…

Mykolas UndzenasApril 28, 2025

Spiegeloog 437: Direction Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: The Details

“I’ve had more than my share of magic in life, most often in the encounter with others. There is something there, and only there. I…

Milica RužićFebruary 28, 2025

Spiegeloog 435: Fantasy Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Kafka on the Shore

“Narrow minds, devoid of imagination. Intolerance, theories cut off from reality, empty terminology, usurped ideas, inflexible systems. Those are the things that really frighten me.…

Shriya BangNovember 13, 2024

Spiegeloog 434: Transformation Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Flowers for Algernon

“I don't know what's worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you've always wanted to be, and feel…

Barnaba OrettiOctober 2, 2024

Spiegeloog 431: Disconnect Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous

“In Vietnamese, the word for missing someone and remembering them is the same: nhớ. Sometimes, when you ask me over the phone, Có nhớ mẹ…

Avanti VijayFebruary 26, 2024

Spiegeloog 430: Love Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: We are Family

On the cover of the version I have, Andrew Solomon calls “We are family” by Susan Golombok a book about love. Reaching the end of…

Magda MatetoviciJanuary 31, 2024

Books Spiegeloog 425: Vision Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Changing Planes

When meeting people from different cultures, does the way they think, act, and see the world baffle you? Are you wishing that you could experience…

Anushka SabhanamApril 5, 2023

Spiegeloog 420: Taboo Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Biografie van de Baarmoeder

Wanneer ik als menstruerend tienermeisje op school naar de wc’s ging moffelde ik mijn maandverband of tampons gauw weg in mijn mouw of broekzak. De…

Rosa BreedSeptember 23, 2022

Books Spiegeloog 419: Harmony Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Atlas of the Heart

Brené Brown is an American academic researcher, known for her research on shame, leadership, and vulnerability. In addition, she is famously known for her TED…

Anushka SabhanamMay 25, 2022

Spiegeloog 418: Time Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: The Order of Time

Carlo Rovelli is an Italian physicist and writer. In addition to his research, he has several best-selling popular science books on complicated concepts of life…

Esna Mualla GunayApril 27, 2022

Books Spiegeloog 417: Science Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals

Check, check, check and check. Does this sound familiar to my fellow to-do list community? Well, our attempt at being productive may well be a…

Sophie HallFebruary 18, 2022

Books Spiegeloog 416: Language Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Time of the Magicians

According to the translator, art critic, and philosopher Walter Benjamin, to critique a work of art is to become its partial co-creator. By reflecting on…

Rosa BreedJanuary 19, 2022

Books Spiegeloog 414: Rise Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Dopamine Nation

The Dopamine Nation, written by Anna Lembke, aims to explain human’s chase for pleasure in an easily digestible manner. Anna Lembke is a psychiatrist as…

Lydia TianOctober 14, 2021

Books Spiegeloog 413: Nature Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: A Thousand Brains

Jeff Hawkins is the founder of Numenta, a neuroscience research company, and is mainly devoted to neuroscience and its connection to artificial intelligence. Seventeen years…

Anne Sophie GiacobelloSeptember 13, 2021

Books Spiegeloog 412: Happiness Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: A Matter of Death and Life

Who suffers more, the one who stays, or the one who has to leave? A Matter of Death and Life is a bittersweet collaborative memoir…

Arda ErginMay 21, 2021

Books Spiegeloog 411: Power Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: How Judges Judge: Empirical Insights into Judicial Decision-Making

Judges play a critical role in our society. Their decisions hold the power to commit someone to prison for the rest of their lives, to…

Esna Mualla GunayMay 3, 2021

Books Spiegeloog 409: Conflict Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: The Use and Misuse of the Experimental Method in Social Psychology

Milgram, Sherif, Rosenhan, Zimbardo, Rosenthal. To any psychology student, these names signify the giants of social psychology whose legacy is unspeakable. However, is it really…

Milena KaprálováJanuary 6, 2021

Books Spiegeloog 408: Consequences Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: The Psychology of Wellbeing

The Psychology of Wellbeing by Gary W. Wood is witty and insightful with a psychological and philosophical take on wellbeing. This book provokes one to…

Lydia TianNovember 12, 2020

Books Spiegeloog 407: Motivation Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: 12 Rules for Life – An Antidote to Chaos

Jordan Peterson is a Canadian clinical psychologist who suddenly appeared in the public eye with his controversial political views a couple of years ago. In…

Esna Mualla GunayOctober 5, 2020

Books Spiegeloog 406: The Unknown Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Victor

Victor kan niet wachten tot hij gaat studeren, zijn eigen geld heeft en op zijn eigen benen kan staan. Zijn vader heeft hij nooit gekend…

Lisanne van der VeldenSeptember 7, 2020

Books Spiegeloog 405: Together Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Parkinson’s Law And Other Studies In Administration

“Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. It is an insightful statement. It has been scientifically proven and it is…

Néstor Narbona ChulviJune 5, 2020

Books Spiegeloog 404: Experience Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Het Water Komt

Het water komt is een open brief van Rutger Bregman aan alle burgers van Nederland. De brief lijkt goed aan te sluiten bij het bekende boek…

Julius DullaertMay 22, 2020

Books Spiegeloog 403: Global Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Laat me toch niet gek zijn

In Laat me toch niet gek zijn lees je gesprekken tussen de neuropsycholoog A.K. Benjamin (een pseudoniem voor de schrijver) en zijn patiënten. Elk hoofdstuk…

Lisanne van der VeldenApril 8, 2020

Books Spiegeloog 402: Appearances Tabula Rasa

Tabula Rasa: Praten met Vreemden

Boekrecensie van het boek Praten met Vreemden door Malcolm GladwellHoe vaak is het je wel niet overkomen dat er verbazing, irritatie of zelf ruzie is ontstaan…

Dewi JagerMarch 13, 2020