Interesting point.....but appears it is confused with some projection of your own by the read of it. You and I have discussed this in past....by the way side...and again, I disagree with your interpretation as as it provides the 'excuse' and lacks accountability ...no sale here....
'Emotions' don't correct behaviors....CHOICE in action does....
But that was the whole point of the distinction between man and angels and the original sin. Man CHOSE to act against the will of God. Suppose that God created Angels as beings who inherently recognize his godhood. They don't have a choice. Their sole reason for existence is to worship God. Well that isn't very edifying. Rather like creating a robot to tell you how amazing you are. But man was created with a spark of divinity; that part of God that is self-determining. So man was able to choose whether or not to recognize God's deity and whether or not to obey him. One might even argue that choosing to disobey was implicit denial of his deity, since why else would you purposefully disobey God? I mean, if he's God he knows best and is infallible. Anything less and he's not God.
So if the Genesis account is correct and Adam literally walked and talked with God and could do anything in the whole world but eat fruit from one tree, yet still voluntarily disobeyed that one command which thus denied God's deity, why would he do so? He said he was compelled by the woman God gave him, which we can infer was an emotional appeal. Eve ate the fruit because of the temptation from the serpent, which was essentially an appeal to vanity via intellect. Well is that not a case of two different types of emotions overruling reason and obvious fact? Then man's spark of divinity cannot be the power to choose when emotion often overcomes reason, even under ideal circumstances.
Perhaps then the divine spark is the human capacity for emotion. The implication then is if we lack the capacity for emotion, are we created in God's image as well? And if only humans were created in God's image, then what are we? By that measure, the only remaining option is angelic. And there are two kinds of angels; those who are compelled to recognize God's divinity and those who fell to pride, which we would call demons.
As it happens, I don't take any of this seriously. One must consider the use of founding myths in any religion, so the metaphysical deduction is only a philosophical exercise. I believe that we are simply carbon-based lifeforms who have developed comparatively large brains and all the complex interactions and disorders that come with it. Our existence is an act of survival of a species and punctuated by mutations which either improve our suitability for our environment or don't. Sometimes it means some of us have blue eyes. Other times it means that some of us develop personality disorders. Sometimes that works out for us, and sometimes it doesn't. Where choice enters into the real picture is in the cost/benefit analysis of possible actions, our failure to properly weigh those options, our lack of correct information about those options, our priority of fullfilling needs, or our physical inability to adapt accordingly.
Everything in our reality is merely a competition for resources. It is what drives racism, class division, politics, war, corporate greed, and every other so-called evil in the world. To choose evil is to choose to put one's own acquisition of excess in opposition to the benefit of the system as a whole. By that measure, we are all guilty of evil. Conversely, we do good if we bring people together and put the good of the group ahead of our own selfish desires. Those of us with AsPD are incapable of acting altruistically, but we are able to recognize how being completely selfish diminishes our society and therefore ultimately is to our detriment. In essence, we CHOOSE to do right rather than feel an emotional imperative or social pressure to conform. In that sense, are we not immune to the pitfall of Adam? And are we not beyond cultural adaptations to which compel us to do good? After all, what is empathy if not an evolutionary adaptation for social creatures to be able to coexist voluntarily in peace? And when that adaptation is no longer conducive to productive coexistence, wouldn't we see it being selected against while others of our species transcend that specialization?
Basically, I suspect that AsPD has a large genetic component, and that what we are seeing could be the next step in human evolution. Or maybe that is just my narcissism seeping out. But it stands to reason that if we are free from our emotions, and emotions caused the original sin/modern acts of evil, and that we are capable of reasoning the correct choice for the good of our species, well AsPD is a step up from NON's in that respect.
I apologize if I'm not articulating this coherently. I haven't slept in a couple days and, having just stumbled on this site, I'm afraid I'm waxing poetic in my sudden infatuation of the forum. Great topic though, and terrific discussions!
