I have written about the 'abandoment of Eden' as the time in which our human intellect outpaced and replaced instinct as our primary means of interacting with the world around us, particularly the physical world. I have suggested that choosing intellect and self-reliance was something to be celebrated, not to be ashamed of. But then, perhaps striding willingly, willfully out of Eden also cost us something. In that time, while we remained animals in form, our minds took us into a place beyond... Sign in to see full entry.