And outside the Garden there were people, poverty, disease, cruelty, slavery, injustice and just about everything we find in the world today. A creation of two special humans in a Garden and then letting them procreate into the general population after they “fell” has done nothing good for the human condition on the planet.
These are very good questions that are just beginning to be studied.
The evidence points to the beginnings of agriculture and animal domestication about 12,000 years as a key transition in society. Prior to the beginning of agriculture, hunter gather society would have been unlikely to have slavery, poverty, or any inequality for that matter. Papers show that hunter gather societies was more egalitarian, people and children were healthier. There was minimal inequality. If the tribe didn’t cooperate in hunting, the whole tribe would die out.
Society changed drastically with agriculture and animal domestication after 12,000 years old. While populations grew, inequality and poverty grew. People got less health, and smaller than their taller, leaner hunter gather ancestors. Slavery could only come about when some group held power over another group by controlling the land and the food production.
Okay then. So if Adam and Eve, are, say at 12000 years ago, then outside the garden there would be minimal injustice and inequality. Poverty and slavery would not likely even exist. If we take the Genesis narrative, it would seem that Adam’s lineage influences the rise of civilization to be more unjust.
It’s a cool paper! I happened to be in the pub with the first author and the paleoartist who did the illustration the evening this paper was published, which was fun.