The Forbidden Fruit Syndrome: From Eden to Twain's Insights
Posted: September 26th, 2023, 7:48 am
This topic is about the September 2023 Philosophy Book of the Month, Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions by Dan Ariely
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This profound observation by Mark Twain echoes a timeless narrative deeply rooted in human psyche and cultural memory: the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The one tree they were forbidden to approach became the very epicenter of their desires. The allure of the Tree of Knowledge's fruit, off-limits and tantalizingly out of reach, led to choices that altered the course of humanity.
Twain's remark about Tom Sawyer's realization and the Edenic narrative are harmoniously resonant. Both speak to an intrinsic human tendency to yearn for the elusive, to be magnetically drawn to the very things we are told are beyond our grasp. Is this inherent attraction to the forbidden a reflection of humanity's ceaseless quest for knowledge, understanding, and experience? Or perhaps it's a manifestation of our rebellious nature, challenging boundaries and defying limitations?
Ariely's investigation into the predictably irrational behaviors offers a lens to understand this phenomena, suggesting that our desires are not just dictated by intrinsic value but by the barriers placed before them.
Could it be that the very act of forbidding turns the ordinary into the coveted? In the dance of desire and restraint, have we remained unchanged since that fateful moment in Eden? And, in our modern context, how does this age-old "Forbidden Fruit Syndrome" shape our decisions and desires?
…Mark Twain once noted about Tom Sawyer, ‘Tom had discovered a great law of human action, namely, that in order to make a man covet a thing, it is only necessary to make the thing difficult to attain.’(Location 548 – Kindle Version)
This profound observation by Mark Twain echoes a timeless narrative deeply rooted in human psyche and cultural memory: the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The one tree they were forbidden to approach became the very epicenter of their desires. The allure of the Tree of Knowledge's fruit, off-limits and tantalizingly out of reach, led to choices that altered the course of humanity.
Twain's remark about Tom Sawyer's realization and the Edenic narrative are harmoniously resonant. Both speak to an intrinsic human tendency to yearn for the elusive, to be magnetically drawn to the very things we are told are beyond our grasp. Is this inherent attraction to the forbidden a reflection of humanity's ceaseless quest for knowledge, understanding, and experience? Or perhaps it's a manifestation of our rebellious nature, challenging boundaries and defying limitations?
Ariely's investigation into the predictably irrational behaviors offers a lens to understand this phenomena, suggesting that our desires are not just dictated by intrinsic value but by the barriers placed before them.
Could it be that the very act of forbidding turns the ordinary into the coveted? In the dance of desire and restraint, have we remained unchanged since that fateful moment in Eden? And, in our modern context, how does this age-old "Forbidden Fruit Syndrome" shape our decisions and desires?