In the beginning, there was Adam and Eve … Idyllic. Just the two of them in the Garden of Eden. Paradise. Or was it?
Sunshine, beautiful, lush surroundings and each other. What more could they wish for? No need for money, the need to procure it nor the evils manifested in the quest; no concept of time nor, therefore, the stresses in trying to adhere to it; no pollution, no climate change … no people! No wars, no fighting, no cruelty to animals or each other and, God forbid, no sign of the mentality reduced to the level of claiming ownership of one’s household bins by painting one’s number on said bin! Think about it.
What has happened to us? Adam and Eve – from whom, if we are to believe, we are all descended – were handed paradise on a plate. Supposedly devoid of the concepts of good and evil, what, then, led to their downfall? God warned them not to pick the fruit from that tree; he warned them of the terrible consequences but, goaded by the serpent, Eve did exactly that and then encouraged Adam to do the same. Eve will forever be associated with the loss of Paradise; however, one must question, firstly, why God tempted them were it not to fail? Secondly, how does one define the concept of good and evil? There they were living in Paradise but Eve was, obviously, not content; she wanted more and succumbed to desire, selfishly choosing the path of self-promotion regardless of the consequences. Sound familiar? Eve might as well be that expressionless woman on the tube, rushing along the street, dressed in black, earphones in, identity tag round her neck, glued to her phone … Help!
There is a common link between the Eve, resident of the Garden of Eden, and the modern day Eve, resident of … say Clapham? The key word, whose use I have deliberately avoided, is ‘apple’.
Honestly, on the phone to a friend the other night, it was a ‘light bulb moment’! Happily denouncing technology and identifying the computer as the root of all evil, it suddenly dawned on me: it was an apple Eve picked from the tree ensuring a life devoid of paradise but, rather, a life of their own making; and, today – many thousands of years later – it could be argued that, master of his own fate, the evolution of man has created a monster and all but destroyed our planet. Afforded free will and the brain capacity to develop, the human race claimed superiority culminating in the invention of the computer; the founding of Apple. The irony is immense.
Apple dominates full stop! Our lives, the world … Whilst the intellect capable of such invention may be lauded, one must also recognize the power to destroy. Appointed caretakers of a beautiful planet nurturing a wealth of wildlife, man has lost sight of Utopia. Driven by power and greed, he has forgotten what is truly of value and there would seem to be no turning back. The threat of nuclear war is escalating with the stand off between North Korea and the US; the torment of refugees is unceasing as they flee internal carnage; starvation and poverty in third world countries sees no end; Antartica is melting before our very eyes, the result of global warming and a climate change, the power of which is unknown and frightening; precious species are threatened with inevitable extinction due to poaching and the loss of habitat – Africa has lost over 40% of its lions over the last two decades and, today, as few as 20,000 remain – and all to what end? Is freedom of choice no more than a weapon of self destruction? What a damning indictment.
As I write, there is breaking news of a further terrorist attack in Barcelona. Where is that Garden of Eden now? Is this decadent world in any way attributable to the picking of that ancient apple? How significant is the ‘Apple’ of today?
Closer to home, we are all but computerized in totality. There is talk of driverless cars, planes are flown by autopilot; it is well nigh impossible to speak to another human being on the phone when it comes to services of any sort and self checkouts render sales assistants of no consequence. Communities are a thing of the past, the family unit consigned to yester year. Life in the fast lane requires focus on self and a materialistic thirst which knows no bounds. Anti-depressants replace smarties as people struggle to cope with the pressures of living to work as opposed to working to live. Can anyone switch off their computer, put down their phone long enough to notice that the world has gone grey? Drained of colour, all that remains is sheep …
The significance of the word ‘apple’, both past and present, in the loss of ‘paradise’? Once upon a time, Eve succumbed to the desire for more and picked the forbidden apple. Paradise was lost. Man, the self appointed superior race, was unleashed and master of his own fate. That fate was the founding of Apple and the onset of a ‘disease’ known as technology. Terminal? I suspect so. Ironically, we could have learned so much of value from those we cast aside such as the Native American or the elephant … the mistake lies in dismissing simplicity. I, for one, always thought the apple an insipid fruit. I could not have been more wrong.
‘You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye …’
The Last Resort, Eagles.
This is Trish, signing off
Sunshine, beautiful, lush surroundings and each other. What more could they wish for? No need for money, the need to procure it nor the evils manifested in the quest; no concept of time nor, therefore, the stresses in trying to adhere to it; no pollution, no climate change … no people! No wars, no fighting, no cruelty to animals or each other and, God forbid, no sign of the mentality reduced to the level of claiming ownership of one’s household bins by painting one’s number on said bin! Think about it.
What has happened to us? Adam and Eve – from whom, if we are to believe, we are all descended – were handed paradise on a plate. Supposedly devoid of the concepts of good and evil, what, then, led to their downfall? God warned them not to pick the fruit from that tree; he warned them of the terrible consequences but, goaded by the serpent, Eve did exactly that and then encouraged Adam to do the same. Eve will forever be associated with the loss of Paradise; however, one must question, firstly, why God tempted them were it not to fail? Secondly, how does one define the concept of good and evil? There they were living in Paradise but Eve was, obviously, not content; she wanted more and succumbed to desire, selfishly choosing the path of self-promotion regardless of the consequences. Sound familiar? Eve might as well be that expressionless woman on the tube, rushing along the street, dressed in black, earphones in, identity tag round her neck, glued to her phone … Help!
There is a common link between the Eve, resident of the Garden of Eden, and the modern day Eve, resident of … say Clapham? The key word, whose use I have deliberately avoided, is ‘apple’.
Honestly, on the phone to a friend the other night, it was a ‘light bulb moment’! Happily denouncing technology and identifying the computer as the root of all evil, it suddenly dawned on me: it was an apple Eve picked from the tree ensuring a life devoid of paradise but, rather, a life of their own making; and, today – many thousands of years later – it could be argued that, master of his own fate, the evolution of man has created a monster and all but destroyed our planet. Afforded free will and the brain capacity to develop, the human race claimed superiority culminating in the invention of the computer; the founding of Apple. The irony is immense.
Apple dominates full stop! Our lives, the world … Whilst the intellect capable of such invention may be lauded, one must also recognize the power to destroy. Appointed caretakers of a beautiful planet nurturing a wealth of wildlife, man has lost sight of Utopia. Driven by power and greed, he has forgotten what is truly of value and there would seem to be no turning back. The threat of nuclear war is escalating with the stand off between North Korea and the US; the torment of refugees is unceasing as they flee internal carnage; starvation and poverty in third world countries sees no end; Antartica is melting before our very eyes, the result of global warming and a climate change, the power of which is unknown and frightening; precious species are threatened with inevitable extinction due to poaching and the loss of habitat – Africa has lost over 40% of its lions over the last two decades and, today, as few as 20,000 remain – and all to what end? Is freedom of choice no more than a weapon of self destruction? What a damning indictment.
As I write, there is breaking news of a further terrorist attack in Barcelona. Where is that Garden of Eden now? Is this decadent world in any way attributable to the picking of that ancient apple? How significant is the ‘Apple’ of today?
Closer to home, we are all but computerized in totality. There is talk of driverless cars, planes are flown by autopilot; it is well nigh impossible to speak to another human being on the phone when it comes to services of any sort and self checkouts render sales assistants of no consequence. Communities are a thing of the past, the family unit consigned to yester year. Life in the fast lane requires focus on self and a materialistic thirst which knows no bounds. Anti-depressants replace smarties as people struggle to cope with the pressures of living to work as opposed to working to live. Can anyone switch off their computer, put down their phone long enough to notice that the world has gone grey? Drained of colour, all that remains is sheep …
The significance of the word ‘apple’, both past and present, in the loss of ‘paradise’? Once upon a time, Eve succumbed to the desire for more and picked the forbidden apple. Paradise was lost. Man, the self appointed superior race, was unleashed and master of his own fate. That fate was the founding of Apple and the onset of a ‘disease’ known as technology. Terminal? I suspect so. Ironically, we could have learned so much of value from those we cast aside such as the Native American or the elephant … the mistake lies in dismissing simplicity. I, for one, always thought the apple an insipid fruit. I could not have been more wrong.
‘You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye …’
The Last Resort, Eagles.
This is Trish, signing off
