Is it plausible to interpret the story of Adam and Eve in conjunction with evolution?
In the Bible, Adam and Eve were the first humans, and their disobedience of choosing to eat from The Tree of Knowledge caused them to gain knowledge. Could all this make sense through the scientific theory of evolution? In my last post; Tree of Knowledge, I hypothesized that the choice of Adam and Eve eating from the tree too early, may have caused them to gain conscious awareness too quickly, before being mentally competent enough to handle the power. By my understanding of the significance of the power of conscious comprehension of cause and effect, this should be plausible, scientifically. What about the rest of the story of Adam and Eve?
According to scientific evolution, humans developed from apes, gradually over many generations. Along this line of gradual development, there could still be 1 original human, born from an ape. The difference of this 1st “human” would be very slight, and basically depend on which definition is used for the label we use, of “human”. Intelligence may be a defining factor for humans, as by my understanding, intelligence seems to be 1 of the most significant differences between apes and humans, which has caused most other of our differences. If scientifically, the 1st “humans” had a slight advantageous development of intelligence, leading from subconscious animals, to conscious humans, this seems it lign up with the general idea of the story of The Tree of Knowledge.
If Adam and Eve were the 1st 2 humans evolved from apes, it could make sense, that they were the 1st ones capable of understanding God's commandment, to some degree, and making the choice of obeying God or not, in whether or not to eat from the tree. Scientifically, it seems this would be some slight step from subconsciousness (as typical animals have), to consciousness. They would not yet quite have conscious awareness before eating from the tree, but some capability to make a choice (as it seems highly intelligent animals also have now, to some degree).
Perhaps this stage between subconscious and consciousness, involves a higher ability than normal, for using language. This could also explain why Adam had the ability to name all of the animals. Scientifically, language seems like a significant element in the development of intelligence and consciousness, as I further described in a post from 10 months ago; Intelligence Evolution by Language. Many intelligent animals can understand a lot of words, but can almost never put together a sentence, which involves combining factors through comprehension of the interaction of factors, which seems likely is 1 of the main components for the function of consciousness (more detail on my hypothesis, in a post from 11 months ago; Conscious Comprehension).
Granted, some of the details in the story don't seem to line up, but that may depend on how literal the story is interpreted. Scientifically, Adam did not literally come from dust, and Eve did not literally come from Adam's rib, but the Bible has a lot of metaphors throughout, and degree of literal meaning is often difficult to interpret. It is possible (to an extra vague degree of guessing) that dust or dirt was involved in the beginning spark of life, scientifically, around 4 billion yrs ago, contributing to the meaning of Adam coming from dust. It also seems possible that Eve came from Adam, in a genetic relation of some sort (which could account for her also having more developed intelligence genetics), supporting the meaning of her coming from Adam's rib. Another possibility is that the fruit from the tree of knowledge, contained certain nutrients which caused Adam and Eve to develop intelligence slightly further, for conscious awareness. Regardless, it seems there are a lot of possibilities, regarding interpretation.
Once Adam and Eve gained knowledge from the fruit of the tree, they became aware that they were naked, which would be an aspect of self conscious awareness, also supporting scientific psychology. Another aspect of the story, is that Adam and Eve gave birth to Cain and Abel, and after Cain killed Abel and was banished to a new location, he had a wife. 1 common theory explaining where his wife came from, was that it was his sister. Another possibility, potentially aligning with evolution, is that Cain’s wife may have been another ape of the species that Adam and Eve came from, just with genetics slightly not as developed. If Cain (as well any other siblings he may have had) bred with others of the ape species, they could likely still pass on their genetics of increased intelligence and awareness, to their offspring.
Depending on how the concepts of the story of Adam and Eve are interpreted, it seems possible that Adam and Eve could have been the 1st individuals to evolve from apes. The gain of an increase of language ability is mentioned in the story, and seems coherent with a step of development of intelligence. Gain in intelligence beyond this step, seems to suit the potential scientific development of consciousness, as a potential concept of; Adam and Eve’s Adamant Evolution.
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