The Fruit, the Tree, and the Serpent: Why We See So Well

by Lynne A. Isbell

From the temptation of Eve to the venomous murder of the mighty Thor, the serpent appears throughout time and cultures as a figure of mischief and misery. The worldwide prominence of snakes in religion, myth, and folklore underscores our deep connection to the serpent―but why, when so few of us have firsthand experience? The surprising answer, this book suggests, lies in the singular impact of snakes on primate evolution. Predation pressure from snakes, Lynne Isbell tells us, is ultimately responsible for the superior vision and large brains of primates―and for a critical aspect of human evolution.

Drawing on extensive research, Isbell further speculates how snakes could have influenced the development of a distinctively human our ability to point for the purpose of directing attention. A social activity (no one points when alone) dependent on fast and accurate localization, pointing would have reduced deadly snake bites among our hominin ancestors. It might have also figured in later human snakes, this book eloquently argues, may well have given bipedal hominins, already equipped with a non-human primate communication system, the evolutionary nudge to point to communicate for social good, a critical step toward the evolution of language, and all that followed.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, History, Psychology, Anthropology, Religion, Biology

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 30, 2009

Reviews

[Iver Raknes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yesterday I picked up this book without knowing fully what to expect. I've had it recommended to me twice the past month; once through a forum on cognitive psychology and once in relation to Joseph Campbells "The Power of Myth". From the recommendations and the cover of the book itself I expected it to be a reading of mythology through the eyes of an evolutionary biologist. But what met me was something different yet more fascinating. This is not popular science literature, it is scientific writing for the scientific-milieu of biology and is not targeted for the consumer market. The book is dense in references and is a heavy read for anyone who is not familiar with the terminology used in biology and neuroscience.

Isbell starts by asking the question of what might have caused the evolution of the incredible visual system which we humans now possess. Why is it that primates surrounded by venomous snakes developed differently than primates who have not been threatened by snakes? Isbell argues that the cross-evolutionary pathways between primates and reptilian snakes the past 60-80 million years have resulted in our extraordinary vision only comparable to that of birds of prey. This has resulted in our visual system being extremely adept for pattern recognition and our colour-vision. The latter being part responsible of us being able to change diet and thus spend more energy on cognitive tasks and develop the prefrontal-cortex that makes us superior in cognitive tasks in the animal kingdom. Isbell backs up these claims scientifically with sufficient data and a sound theory that is yet unchallenged. Through her work in evolutionary-biology, she examines the primates need for dealing with snakes by selecting for depth perception, an ability to see through camouflage and thus build particular neural pathways allowing for an immediate freeze- fight or flight response. The same development of our visual system is what brought later hominem ability to tell apart green from red, and thus made us able to tell ripeness of fruit and change our dietary options to more fruit and plant based one. The change of diet allowed Hominems to decrease the length of the gastric system (along with our later mastery of cooking meat of the fire) and could thus effectively use more of our energy on cognitive tasks.

The title of the book suggests that the scientific findings of Isbell are reflected in the Biblical story of Eden which serves as a perfect analogy. Though Isbell doesn’t spend much time writing about this analogy it does deserve a closer examination which in turn might yield more power to the myth. The serpent in the story is Satan who has transformed himself and snuck into paradise (Paradiso meaning walled garden). It is the Paradise where everything lives harmoniously and knows not of death or suffering. God intended it to be this way and therefore forbid Adam and Eve from eating of the Tree that stood in the centre of Eden. The forbidden fruit hung from this tree – and held the knowledge of death, suffering, good and evil. Our protagonists were warned that if they ate of the tree they would be doomed for eternity and so would all the coming generations, and would never know that which truly is perfect again. For a long time, they did not touch the tree until one day. It was Eve's attention to the Serpent that did her in. She ate from the tree after being seduced by the Serpent – and alas, God punished Eve for noticing the Serpent and eating the fruit by decreeing the downfall of man and that all women henceforth have pain in childbirth – making way for the first humans in our world (Adam and Eve being proto-humans in paradise without human ancestors). The ideas hidden in the several thousand-year-old stories is that it is the reptilian snake that pointed to the fruit (most often depicted as a red apple), which is true psychologically, evolutionary and not the least dramatically. The eating of the fruit/change of diet introduced the possibility of our ever-growing prefrontal cortex and our ability for conceptualization and planning. Our increasing cranium-size has resulted in the uniquely high mortality rate during birth, which is as the Bible states a curse cast upon women as a consequence of the evolution of brain-size. Finally, the downfall of Man being symbolically true as we became aware of our own mortality and thus the tragedy of life when we became increasingly self-conscious.

It is strange that man's reasoning of why we became conscious beings some 3000-8000-year-old (yes that is how old the story of Eden is) reached the same conclusion told in a dramatic sense that science took so long to articulate and investigate in modern language -- and thus beckons what else hidden in our myths and stories that can yet not be understood intellectually. The heady position of snakes as our destroyers and creators in religion, myth and folklore has not been too far off from what the scientific evidence shows. One could examine the phenomena even more closely in myth, unfortunately, it is also at this point one leaves the kingdom of scientific inquiry. Every mythology has elements of reptilian creatures, and oftener than not the snake is part of the creation myth in the belief system. Norse mythology has the world serpent jörmungandr that wraps itself around the disk-shaped world they conceived of. Australian Aboriginal creation stories describe the Rainbow Serpent as a creator of humans. Similarly, a Chinese creation story holds that Nugua, a dragon-like goddess, created humans in her image except that she gave them two legs rather than have them glide along as she did. Other examples of snakes in popular mythology are Medusa, Tefnut, Atum and not least the Satan himself disguised as a serpent in the Eden. From what we can say about the religious and mythological motifs that contained serpents of serpent-like dragons it is interesting to think what the implications of Isbell's theory might mean for their scientific studies.

It is definite that there are ideas that their highest development of is still hidden in our mythology. For me what first comes to mind is the significance of the Ouroboros as a symbol. The snake that bites itself by its tail and thus forms an eternal circle. The Ouroboros symbolizes the union of known (associated with spirit) and unknown (associated with matter), explored and unexplored; symbolizes the juxtaposition of the “masculine” principles of security, tyranny and order with the “feminine” principles of darkness, dissolution, creativity and chaos. Furthermore, as a snake, the Ouroboros has the capacity to shed its skin—to be “reborn.” Thus, it also represents the possibility of transformation and stands for the knower, who can transform chaos into order, and order into chaos. The Ouroboros stands for, or contains, everything that is as of yet unencountered, prior to its differentiation as a consequence of active exploration and classification. It is the source of all the information that makes up the determinate world of experience and is, simultaneously, the birthplace of the experiencing subject. The Ouroboros is one thing, as everything that has not yet been explored is one thing; it is omnipresent at all times. It is entirely self-contained, completely self-referential: it feeds, fertilizes and engulfs itself. It unites the inception and the end, being and becoming, in the endless circle of its existence. It serves as the outer cornerstones for reality itself. It is the “set of all things that are not yet things,” the primal origin and ultimate point of return for every discriminable object and every independent subject. It serves as the progenitor of all we know, all that we don’t know, and of the spirit that develops our capacity to know and not know. It is the mystery that constantly emerges when solutions to old problems cause new problems; is the sea of chaos surrounding man’s island of knowledge—and the source of that knowledge, as well. It is all new experience generated by time, which incessantly works to transform the temporarily predictable once again into the unknown. This is a conception all civilisations have reaches, from alchemy to Hinduism, and they all share the snake as the symbolical representation.

Furthermore, another significant creature formed from the image of the serpent is that of the hydra. the Hydra which is to find in Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Greek and Roman myth symbolises that the solution to a problem leads to the furthering of new problems arising as a result. One head is chopped off and two new ones appear. This is the existential truth of mankind, however many problems one might overcome there are always new ones. As one never is out of problems to fix concerning ourselves or others one can never defeat the cosmological hydra (at least not according to the Egyptians). One can therefore still today see how snakes, serpents, dragons and reptilian creatures have gathered such great importance in mythology interculturally over the world the past 60'000 years. We still have snakes in popular culture and myth, just think to Voldemorts Horcrux the Basilisk known as the king of Serpents in the Harry Potter saga. Snakes on a plane gained huge interest partly because of its exploitation of ophidiophobia (fear of snakes). One can name dozens of high grossing movies and books heavily featuring snakes today, even though they possess less danger than that of a car – as there are more people dying in car accidents every day than there are people dying of snakes in 10 years. To summarize;

Lynne's theory shows its significance in relation to theories of evolutionary psychology, and therefore also the archaic development of Mythology and Religion. Though it has passed some ten years since the books original release I hope that the theory will prove important and relevant in the study of our culture's stories. And as far as I trust my intuition I will gladly claim truth to stories being primary in the developmental pathway of morals -- and therefore have sincere significance in the furthering of our species. Lynne has beautifully dug into the archaic and found light hidden in the darkness -- she has overcome the dragon outside the walls of the kingdom and reclaimed the chest of gold to our civilisation.

[Olga · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had to write 100 insignificant facts about myself, one of them would be "I can't walk past the new books shelf in the university library. I always come back with at least three, and usually take all of them home."

I had to pick up this one because of its title. I thought it's something on mythology. But as soon as I opened it, I realized that it's nothing I expected it to be yet I had to read enough of it to get the idea.

I have to admit right there, I did turn every page of this book, but I did not read and understood everything in it. The author makes the claims and she backs them up. The quality of backing them up I cannot judge because I simply do not have mastery of all special science language in this book. This is an academic publication, not a popular science one.

I'm glad to share the list of claims, though.

When mammals evolved, they lived in an environment where snakes looked as they do now.

Snakes were the first, and have been the most persistent, of the modern predators of mammals; and that they indeed provided the selective pressure that favored the initial expansion of the visual sense in primates.
P. 67

This, in a nutshell, is Snake Detection theory.

As a result of my research on snakes and primate vision, I have come to see that the heady position of snakes as our destroyers and creators in religion, myth, and folklore has not been too far off from what the scientific evidence shows.
P.7

So, this is the serpent part, so what's with the fruit and tree? Apparently, the senses of vision and smell have to have a trade off. more of the one means less of the other. So, the mammals who were still eating inscects had to rely on superior sense of smell (try to smell an innocuous insect!). But the ones who were able to eat fruit and flowers (stronger smelling food) could develop stronger vision and still don't lose smell to the point of starving for not finding any food for themselves.

So, here's the connection with THE Christin mythological snake story: they paid attention to the snake, they ate fruit and their eyes opened. Very interesting indeed!

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pet hypothesis, much??? There's a decent overview of general neuroscience, but other than that this woman is a total cherry picker.

[Niklas Braun · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insightful read, though quite dense at times. Isbell is fairly convincing at points, as she delves into a number of areas from neurobiology to anthropology to prove her point. Much of it is out of my area of learning. However, she is convincing, and certainly there is possibility that it holds true. There are many assumptions held by Isbell, but none of those assumptions are convincingly false.

[Jacob Kocken · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opening. Beautiful insight into mythology through scientific investigation.

[Inessa Kalabekova · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve been diving into the symbolism of snakes for my first-year Master’s Fine Arts exhibition, and I’ve found some fascinating insights. One key moment in ancient literature keeps coming to mind: the conversation between Eve and the serpent in Genesis 3:4-6. It’s such an iconic scene — “You will not die; your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” The serpent, tempting Eve, is a symbol of danger and temptation, a theme that resonates through countless myths and stories.

This book I’ve been reading explores why snakes have been such potent symbols throughout history. They’ve been linked to everything from the serpent in Eden to myths involving gods like Thor. The book suggests that our ancient ancestors, who faced snakes as both predators and threats, developed a kind of primal fear. Snakes played a crucial role in pushing humans to develop sharper senses and survival instincts. This ancient struggle is deeply embedded in our collective psyche.

What’s fascinating is how this fear and fascination persist even in modern times. The snake in the Bible story is more than just a creature; it’s a deep, ancestral symbol of temptation and the unknown. For me as an artist, it’s a rich territory to explore. I’m imagining scenes that blend these ancient stories with our instinctive unease about snakes. It’s about unraveling how something so primal still echoes through our myths and art today. This book has been an essential part of my journey into understanding this complex relationship between humanity and snakes.

[Michael Schultheiss · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent evolutionary argument about a crucial aspect of humanity, our vision. The idea of our vision being a part of an arms race with snakes is extremely fascinating, and the book makes the case in great detail. This is a very worthwhile read.

[Angel Kalathas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't understand everything because it gets quite scientific in most parts, but the main idea about the creation myth backed up with evidence is phenomenal! It really says a lot about the truths hidden in mythological stories we tend to ignore because we consider them fairytales.

[Al Adducci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Serpent, Adam, Eve, Fruit, Vision, as God, in new light. Dense!

[Jamie Stott]

An excellent read, very dense and technical at times but enlightening.

[Keith Openshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everyone who is remotely interested in humans should read this.

Let me be clear: this book does not contain practical knowledge that will influence your daily life, nor will it be an easy and fun read. It will teach way more than you need to know about human visual systems and primate migration patterns. However the fundamental theory about snake and human interaction in this book is one of the most interesting ideas I have encountered.

Read this book. If you’re not a neurobiologist there will lots of confusing parts that go way over your head, but I guarantee you that Isbell makes a compelling case that will change the way you look at the relationship between humans and snakes forever.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting perspective on the evolution of human vision. I highly recommend for anyone interested in evolution, human anatomy, snakes, or anyone even afraid of snakes... this book sheds understanding on why we are afraid of snakes and offers a hypothesis on how it has shaped the evolution of our vision.

[Jeanne Fair · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent science review of describing a researcher's work, written by the researcher. Besides understanding how vision may have evolved, this book is a good introduction of how difficult evolutionary biology can be and the complexities of science and hypothesis testing of things that happened in the past.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

Humanity is united and, quite literally, made wiser by our fear of and need to see snakes. Isbell's hypotheses are revolutionary and give us insight towards our evolutionary past. A fair warning though that this is a dense scientific read, especially for those who are not biologists.

[Joe]

interesting review in The Atlantic