"My skill is the ability to put ideas together. If you give me a blank piece of paper, I will give you a blank piece of paper back. I find imitating and innovating a creative exercise. What I am able to do is take a couple of different ideas and merge them so they appear to be something different. And I think that is what artists do." [Leslie H. Wexer, chairman and CEO, Limited Brands]
Tabula rasa (Lat.) is the state in which we are completely blank and our entire resource of knowledge is built up gradually from experiences and sensory perceptions of the outside world (Wikipedia). The nurture part of nature vs. nurture.
Carte blanche (Fr.) is literally a blank cheque, one already signed but with no numerical value assigned to it (Wikipedia).
In creative pursuits, both or either can be paralyzing. We're much better at building from existing material and information; having any resource we can dream up may make us lazy in maximizing what we have.
True/false?