In late December, I took a trip to visit the Houston Zoo Lights. Bestowed upon me was an unanticipated, but familiar story.
After passing through an enchanted forest of fairies, Nephilim, and mythic flowers, the path opened into what resembled a garden. The garden. To the right stood the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil; directly across from it, a looming serpent’s head rose, watching from the grass. The symbolism was unmistakable, yet easy to overlook. In that moment, the garden became more than a display, which led me to reflect:
We are taught to be conscious in our pursuit of knowledge, but seldom reflect on its consequences. Is consciousness a divine punishment for overreaching, as myths and scriptures warn, or a capacity for self-actualization and a path toward human depth and connection when approached thoughtfully?
The Bible verse Genesis 2:17 states, “But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for on the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.” The Sacred Fig tree (Bodhi Tree), which is native to India, is known for its association with Buddha’s single most important life event, enlightenment. Islam references the tree as the Forbidden Tree of Immortality in Eden, representing two different perspectives: the tree as being without roots for disbelievers, insinuating they are not grounded in faith, and the opposite for believers who are known to have deep-set roots.
Even in Mythology, specifically the Norse, the reference to Yggdrasil’s branches reach down into the underworld, the place of unconsciousness, while the trunk of the tree is in Midgard, which symbolizes the human realm and ego. The top of the tree reaches to the spiritual realm of Asgard, representing the higher self and enlightenment. The Norse myth indicates that humans (or gods) who meddle with forces beyond their station can suffer consequences. From mythology to world religion, taking from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil is referenced as a transgression of overreaching; consciousness as a punishment, and separation from the divine, resulting in the fall of man.
Yet this same awareness, understood as a curse, modernly defines the highest level of human growth, most notably in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.
In early classes of psychology, sociology, and health/ human development, we are taught about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
Our High School brains are meant to process the organization of human needs once survival has been established. The pyramid is typically taught to explain human motivation, even though its broader implications extend into questions and the framework of human meaning. What we are also not taught is the expanded version of Maslow’s Hierarchy, which extends self-actualization into self- transcendence. In his writings, Farther Reaches of Human Nature, Maslow argues that the image of man is constantly evolving, yet its limitations include the value-neutral frameworks of sciences.
These frameworks fail to account for meaning, spirituality, and the higher capabilities of human consciousness. Being that humans live by and for values (pg. 3), value-neutral sciences that have been adopted by our education, healthcare, and social work systems are constraining human development. Maslow critiques both the frameworks behind value-neutral sciences and Freudian reductionism for simplifying humans into objects or animals incapable of profound awareness and transcendence. (Maslow, A. H. (1969). The farther reaches of human nature, pg. 1-3).
Addressing this topic, Maslow presents what he calls the fourth force, the transhumanistic/ transhumanism, later redefined as the transpersonal, a psychology concerned with experiences that move beyond the ego. In this psychology, desires, gratification, greatness, and the things that make your life worthwhile are described as experiences that transcend the geographical limitations of oneself.
Despite Maslow’s later emphasis on the transpersonal, this dimension of his psychology remains largely absent from mainstream education, which continues to privilege what can be tested and quantified rather than what gives life meaning and depth. We are conditioned to believe that knowledge should just be consumed, just as Eve ate the apple without considering the tree. Consuming knowledge without understanding its weight reflects the ancient religious warning against overreaching knowledge without the wisdom that guides life’s meaning.
There may be some truth in the saying, “What you don’t know won’t kill you.” What you do know, however, if questioned critically, could lead you closer to self-actualization or the transpersonal. The consumer habits fostered by capitalism, together with value-neutral approaches in psychology, should not limit human consciousness. Pursuing awareness thoughtfully and critically may not result in humanity’s fall, as the stories of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil caution, but rather in the cultivation of depth, progress, and human connection.
Delivered by Fatoumata Traore
