@Zendo asked:
“Where is this alleged tree to which you refer?
Oh what joy to begin this Thursday morning with such an opportunity (and I thought taking out the trash was going to be my highlight).
The Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is deeply rooted in every word that proceeds from our minds. And it’s not a matter of medium as words do not depend upon writing (sign language, smoke rings). Basically, any form of physical symbolic representation of intentions from a mind.
Personally, I believe it refers to the very moment when humanity became consciously aware through the use of modern language form. Simon Baron-Cohen suggests this glottogony to specifically include “intentional persuasion” and “intentional deception” appearing in homo sapiens approximately 40,000 years ago.
Since this is a biblical myth, it must be addressed from the biblical perspective. The Serpent encouraged Eve that once this fruit was tasted, our eyes would be opened to see things as God sees them.
What’s interesting is the bible teaching:
“In the beginning was the word. And the word was God and the word was with God. And the word became flesh”.
And in Genesis:
“And God “said”… Let there be…”
Hypothetically (and in line with the biblical teaching) Eve was the first to taste of this fruit. Thus women embraced modern syntactical structures before men. Who better to feed this fruit to children both male and female?
So, when we tasted the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, our eyes were open to concepts of modernity. The Garden of Eden vanished before our very eyes, and the Angel who prevents us from returning is our very own cognitive development that modern language usage has foisted upon us.
Animals are still in the Garden of Eden, having no wants or desires beyond that which is provided for them by Mother Nature. But humans have left the Garden, never to return.
What other Fruit bearing Trees await us in our future evolution? Is there a Tree of Omnipotence waiting to be picked from?