Nasty, Brutish, and Short

Here's a link to a lecture by Stephen Pinker that, while off-base in some of its assumptions, explodes the common myth that the life of aboriginal people was idyllic.

Too many people confuse hunter-gatherer existence with the Garden of Eden.

I think more generally the idea of a past golden age is a psychological phenomenon. I think it really comes from projected memories of childhood. Note that the story of Genesis reports that people back in the days soon after the Creation were giants, and lived for a very long time. Exactly--in the eyes of a child.

I believe original sin, accordingly, is something that really happened in each of our childhoods. I think it is something inherent in coming into self-awareness; we decide, at some point, that we are ourselves the centre of the universe, "become as gods." This is why it is just that we are punished for it--it really is something we ourselves did, but it is also in a sense something inevitable.

Cain, meet Abel.