The Wrong Tree

In the story of the Garden of Eden, God thought it would be a bad idea for Adam and Eve to eat the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. But they could not resist. Was eating the fruit a good idea? Their newfound knowledge sparked amazing technological and cultural inventions. However, it also enhanced their capacity for deception, betrayal, and violence. Humans became like gods, YHWH declared--but all too often they act like the most capricious and destructive deities ever imagined. It is as if they (we!) were lacking the wisdom necessary for using their divine knowledge well.

Another part of the Bible, the Book of Proverbs, likens wisdom to a Tree of Life. The Tree of Life was, of course, the other enchanted tree in the Garden, the one our biblical ancestors did not taste. This volume offers a "Proverbian" interpretation of the Eden story, suggesting that while the Tree of Life represents wisdom, the art of humble dependence, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil stands for something similar yet distinct: a form of rationality, the power to set goals, solve problems, and claim independence. While the latter is a wonderful ability, without wisdom it becomes a loaded weapon in the hands of humans playing god.

Today, our eyes are fixed again on a fruit that promises rational powers of divine proportions: artificial superintelligence. Should we reach out and take it? The ancient story of Eden may teach us a thing or two about our modern-day dilemmas.