h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Recently I have been reading alot of 17th and 18th century literature about government. The authors always seem to bring up God, as Christianity and one's stance on it was very important back then, as it is to many people now. When an author would speak of government and ruling, the subject of Adam, and his dominion over a new world always seems to come to light as the first example of a type of government.

While reading so much about Adam and this new world a thought came to mind, what sort of knowledge would God have put into Adam's mind when he created him. This is a philosophical question, not a debate about whether Adam or God exists, so for the sake of argument, presume that Adam was the first human, and that God created him out of dust to be the first human on earth.

Now since Adam would have been the first human, without any previous memory or experience, all knowledge would have to be a priori, given to him directly by God, without learning from experience. So what would have God put into Adam's mind?

What I wonder first off, was Adam given God's vast knowledge? What limit did God place on the knowledge he gave Adam if he did not give him all of what he knew?
Now it would seem almost obvious that God did not give Adam all of his knowledge, because the course of human history would have been different. We would've known long ago how to fly, how to harness clean energy and all the secrets of the universe. But, even with that knowledge, it takes a huge workforce to be able to produce something like a 747, and in the years that Adam was on the earth, it's doubtful that he would have bore enough offspring to build industry to produce modern machinery.
But wait, if he had infinite knowledge, he would have also had the foresight to record all that he knew for posterity so that they could later create modern machinery, or have knowledge of the universe. So why didn't he? If he had infinite knowledge, he would've known how to write. But would his children know how to read? He could teach them, but would they have the capacity to understand Adam's vast knowledge? Who today understands Quantum Physics? So was the knowledge there, but lost? Or was it never given to Adam in the first place?
Perhaps all of God's knowledge was not placed into Adam's mind, or he would've known not to eat the apple, and it would have been a moot point since he would've already had that knowledge anyway, so the apple would not have been a threat. So Adam's initial knowledge was at least limited in some respects. But what then would have God placed in Adam's mind to allow him to survive on a new planet inhabited by new creatures and new flora? Did God give Adam knowledge that he himself could not understand, being merely mortal? What would Adam need with the knowledge of how to create a universe without having the power to create one? Was knowledge that was not immediately needed for survival discarded by Adam and his progeny after the apple incident?

Besides the insights given by the Bible, which aren't many, what would have Adam's knowledge of human existance be? What would it be like to be the first human with no memories, to be spontaneously created. Would Adam have known he was the first? Would he have had a sense of superiority knowing he was created directly by God. Would Adam have known how powerful God is or what the meaning of omnipotence is? Did Adam know he was on a planet, that was created shortly before he was? Would the knowledge Adam had seem like memory, or would the answers to questions pop into his head as he had them. If it were memory, what kinds of memory would someone created as an adult have?

Adam and Eve were given dominion over earth and allowed to name animals, so I propose that they were given a language and the ability to communicate. But would the language be divine, or human? They were able to talk to God and Satan directly, but were God and Satan speaking to Adam in a newly devised human tongue, or in the divine language? Would they have known how to write, and if so, did people forget how to?

I wonder what other people think of this. I think it's an interesting question, perhaps trivial, but I'd be interested in reading others' opinions on it.

Very interesting question.

I would answer by saying that Adam was never created in the first place, but you declared that off limits, so I won’t go there.

Well obviously God could not have given him his own vast knowledge, as knowledge is power, he would have then made Adam a very powerful being. I think that God may have given him basic animal instincts, like we all have. For example we have drives to eat, drink and procreate (hence Eve). Even a young baby has a drive to drink, and knows what to do when a bottle is place in its mouth. I am not sure if this is knowledge or instinct or one of the same things.

God, I guess would have to give Adam basic knowledge, for example how to walk move his body to a competent level, that sort of thing. The reason why I say this is because Adam could not have been lying on the floor helpless. Presumable he could not have been created and put on the earth as a baby, because again he would have been helpless, unless god constantly gave him a helping hand. The same must apply for the other animals God created, otherwise none of then would have survived.

Now did God give Eve, the same knowledge as Adam, or rely on Adam to teach her everything?

I think maybe God, instead of giving Adam and Eve a vast knowledge he would give them basic instincts and knowledge in order for them to survive, for the period of time they need to procreate (same goes for those other animals in the Garden of Eden). Everything else (I think) came from learning and experience, over time.

Thanks for reading

Kind regards

Peter

I will say that infinite knowledge was there, but the will to use it was lacking.

Perhaps even the forsight to teach his offspring how to read because they were too busy hunting.

Given that the animals and creatures of the sea and air were created first, it would seem that God had plenty of practice with instinct and survival, otherwise the food chain would have broken down pretty quickly.
But as Adam and Eve were not given knowledge of their nakedness or of "good" and "evil" at the first, and God had to play "do as I say, not as I do", with them and then "punish them" with having to toil for their food and suffer with their giving birth, it would seem that not having dealt with the hominid mind beyond that first and last attempt, that the humans got shorter shrift than the lilies of the field and the birds of the air.

There seems to be a suggestion of a fleshly automaton status, kind of like earthbound angels. That in order to truly serve God, as part of his imaginative creation, you have to play God and play with the double-edged flaming sword of "free will".

Frankly, I think he got bored watching the ants wanted someone to play chess with. I think that the fruit of the tree also let the Newlyweds in for a bit of the shades of gray, also.
Because they also became the first lawyers....