Using Punishment and Self-Persuasion to Explain Adam and Eve The Book of Genesis tells the story of how God created man and woman. He permitted Adam and Eve to eat from any tree in his garden except the Tree of Knowledge, and they faced death if they did. They were handed out a severe threat; that of death. As we all know, Adam and Eve did eat from the tree of knowledge and were banished from the Garden of Eden. Looking at the situation from a social psychology perspective, I will examine why that was the case, and what God could have theoretically done to be obeyed. In other words, I will discuss why a mild threat might have worked better in this case.
What is forbidden is desired. This age-old adage is the source of Adam and Eve’s demise. So it is only natural to conclude that the only way to redeem the two besides walling up the Tree of Knowledge, is to make the desired fruit somehow less desirable. One possible solution to that conundrum is by threatening them with a milder form of punishment; say if they were threatened with an hour’s worth of manual labor. One might ask what makes it different from severe punishment. In both circumstances, they will experience dissonance. Adam and Eve would be aware that they are resisting the urge to taste that delicious fruit. Under severe threat, when they ask themselves why they still haven’t tried it, they are reminded of the threat of death. In other words, they have sufficient external justification; they’d rather stay alive. This reduces their dissonance.
Dissonance is also experienced under a mild threat, but the difference is crucial. When they ask themselves that same question, they cannot come up with a convincing answer since the threat is so lenient that it does not provide t...
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...desirable. However, since this is not what happened in the story, it is still worth examining what did.
As we established, Adam and Eve, after some time, had reduced their dissonance to the point where eating the fruit was not longer an issue; they decided it was time. The snake serves to facilitate or speed up their decision and nothing else. It seduces them into doing it, but they would never have done it if they devalued the fruit. The snake simply coaxes them, assures them that they are making the correct decision.
In conclusion, a less severe threat might have worked better for Adam and Eve than the one they were handed for all the reasons discussed. It could have made all the difference in the world for the two. Although the story is not typical, I have tried to prove that modern social psychology can be applied and used to understand even the oldest of tales.
From the very beginning of time we have Adam and Eve from the Christian bible. The story has been told in many different ways, including in plays, and sometimes teaches more than just about god. Eve is made from one of Adam’s ribs. Once the two eat from the tree of knowledge, they are to be punished from eating the forbidden apples that introduced sin into the world. God puts the curse of bearing children on Eve, because she was the first to bite and then tempted Adam. “Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and
Symbolism is very prominent over the course of this story, giving it that much more meaning. Knowles makes not only one, but several instances to religious principles and more precisely in this case, Adam and Eve. These of jealousy, greed, and selfishness are prominent throughout both stories as well is a significant fall whether it would be as monstrous as humanity or on the smaller scale of relationships. The disruption of peace and harmony are also evident in the two. In addition, it is interesting how the author finds a way to tie them all into each other.
This act of disobedience describes the first moral flaw, and the consequential corruption of mankind. By disobeying God, Adam and Eve take the first steps towards independence and freedom. This helps them reach their spiritual and intellectual capacity. After Adam and Eve leave the Garden of Eden, they create a new harmony referred to as “the end of days” (622). To the prophets, man is right to disobey; this allows him to think for himself.
The novel East of Eden by John Steinbeck is an allegory to the biblical story of Cain and Abel, and many of its characters become embodiments of both good and evil. As they struggle to overcome what has been decided for them they are taught they hold the power to overcome and rise above their destiny’s. When the Hebrew idea of “timshel” is introduced to the allegory of Cain and Abel, it become apparent that whether life is predestined or not; mankind holds the ultimate ability of deciding what will become of himself. Adam’s choice to move on from Cathy, Cal’s decision to forgive himself, and Cathy’s decision to let evil overcome her prove that overcoming what is predestined for one lies in the hands of the individual.
The “Fall of Man” story in The Bible, better known as the “Garden of Eden “story or “Adam and Eve”, is the story of how sin entered the perfect world that God had created.According to the Genesis 3, the book and the chapter in which the story is located, God gave Adam and Eve, the only two humans ever to be created at the time, a perfect place to dwell, a paradise called the Garden of Eden . This garden contained everything they needed and it was good. They had only one condition, they could not eat from the tree that was in the center of the garden, the tree of knowledge of good and evil, because God said that if they ate it the would “ surely die”. Well one day a snake came along, or should I say Satan disguised as a snake, to tal...
In the debate titled Of the Equal or Unequal Sin of Adam and Eve, two authors; Isotta Nogarola and Ludovico Foscarini, argue about the original sin committed by Adam and Eve. Nogarola first states that Eve lacked a sense and constancy and that she therefore sinned less than Adam did. In her case the serpent thought of Adam as invulnerable due to his constancy. God created Adam to have unchanged opinions and state of mind, in order to avoid falling into the serpent’s persuasion, however Eve’s vulnerability led her to a severe sin. God found Adam guilty for the sin because he esteemed man more highly than woman and led his command towards Adam to not eat the fruit from the tree. Weak and inclined to indulge on the fruit, Nogarola claims, Eve
The creation story in Genesis refers to a serpent classically interpreted as an evil entity. If we consider God’s warning that eating fruit from a certain tree would result in death the same day and that the record indicates that the only two humans on the planet did not, we must reconsider the role of the serpent and reevaluate the roles of good and evil and how they apply to ...
The loss of innocence for Adam and Eve is connected to the notion of truly "knowing" and "seeing." Before eating the forbidden fruit, they were in blindly living; abiding by the commands of God without question. It is the serpent who tempts them, and challenges God's authoritative power. Curiosity and knowledge are what lead Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Once they do, they realize the difference that exists between them and the creatures around them, between the physical bodies of Adam and Eve; difference exists everywhere around them. When Adam and Eve eat from the Tree of Knowledge, they then think and see for the first time.
Cognitive dissonance makes it difficult for people to accept conflicting new ideas. Conflicting beliefs create discomfort
Cooper, Joel. Cognitive Dissonance: Fifty Years of a Classic Theory. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2007. Print
Cognitive Dissonance can be a good thing or a bad thing; it will be a good thing, if the individual(s) involved let their correct attitudes and beliefs guide their actions, and not the other way around.
In the beginning, God did not want anyone to be sinful. God created mankind in the image of himself. The purpose of humans is to maintain the Earth. He placed a man and woman into a tempt-full location. He commanded for them to not eat off the tree of forbidden fruit. However, a serpent inquired about what God had stated. After gaining that knowledge, the serpent tricked the woman, into eating the fruit, from the forbidden tree. The woman then persuaded the man, to also eat fruit, from the forbidden tree. God then checked up on the man and woman. He asked the man why he ate the fruit; the man had blamed the woman. God then asked the woman why she ate the forbidden fruit; the woman had blamed the serpent. God was angered and disappointed by Adam’s and Eve’s action that in return, He punished the serpent,
In the beginning, God created a perfect world without sin, pain, or agony. God created this world so some of His creation would have a home and a place to serve him. However, this model of a flawless utopia became corrupted very quickly. God’s prized creation, humans, disobeyed the only command that their Father had set in place: not to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Adam and
All in all the actions of Eve were neither good nor evil, but instead necessary. Through her actions she brought to light the evils of the world, and as a result man is able to appreciate that which is good. Moreover one cannot blame Eve for what she did because although as we have seen God did instill upon mankind free will, he used his threats as a means of manipulating this gift. Although there were many trees in the Garden of Eden, having the tree of knowledge of good and evil forbidden created mystery for Eve, and therefore drew her to it over the tree of life. And once both Adam and Eve choose with their own free will to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil immortality is no longer an option. Now that man is knowledgeable enough to appreciate immortality, God removes it as an choice. In a way this story shows us the flaws of both man and God. Man in that he is tempted by that which is forbidden and does not always respect the orders of those in a position of authority; And God is shown to be somewhat devious and perhaps even malicious at times.
Satan is often referred to as the tempter, and at the root of every temptation is the power of persuasion. Temptation is so strong that it even led to the fall of humanity. In Genesis 3, Satan deceives the woman, Eve, by saying that “You will not surely die…For God know that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” And the rest is history. But, what’s important here is the fact that Satan offers her a reward. He says that if Eve eats the fruit, she will be like God. Eve falls into the trap of the first principle of persuasion: reward. Rewards surround our lives today like it surrounded Adam and Eve’s lives at the beginning of history. Today, we hold out the opportunity of a vacation for a salesman who sells enough of the company’s products. We promise candy to a four-year-old if he keeps quiet in the grocery store. We dangle an A before a student to get her to study harder. Rewards make us work harder, whether we want to admit it or not. Alfie Kohn disagrees and states, “when we are working for a reward, we do exactly what is necessary to get it and no more” (Kohn, 63). However, Kohn is flawed in his thinking. Think of what would happen if both teams who played in the Super Bowl got identical trophies ...