Say, readers, why don't we have complete clarity on the true nature of reality? Why is "The Big Truth" so often shrouded in complicated scientific principles and mysterious philosophical concepts? Why can't we see that all these trees we're looking at make up a forest?
I believe it's because of an incident that happened 6,000 years ago. The incident led to a serious disease that infected humankind and rapidly spread from humans to encompass every other living thing. Even now we all suffer from this terrible malady. And it has a 100% mortality rate. It's the last and arguably least fun part of life—it's death. Sorry to be morbid, but there it is. On the last page of the story of our lives, we die. The end. (I understand the Author of our story has written a sequel in which we experience many more wonderful adventures after we die. I've put the sequel on my "must read" list, I assure you.)
How did we get into this awful predicament? Back to the incident from 6,000 years ago.
This crafty dragon comes up to the prettiest, kindest lady in the whole world. (No, my wife wasn't born yet—another lady.) He basically says to her, "Hey there, girlfriend! Don't you want to know the true nature of reality? Don't you want to experience all that reality has to offer? Don't you want to call the shots and be totally awesome like God? All you have to do is eat this fruit right here, and then give some to your husband to eat." (I'm paraphrasing, but that's the gist of the dragon's offer.)
The nice lady is hesitant, unsure. She's never been told a lie and she's never met a liar, so she probably doesn't recognize the dragon for what he is. She thinks it would be really fun to know all the things there are to know and be like God. She eats the fruit and gives some to her husband, and he eats it too.
But the dragon is lying. Eating the fruit doesn't make them totally awesome. And they don't really know everything. They just THINK they're totally awesome, and they just THINK they know everything. They're completely deceived.
Unfortunately, they're our ancestors, and we've inherited this trait from them. Rather than being born understanding "The Big Truth," we are born believing "The Big Lie," that we're totally awesome, we know a bunch of things, and we call the shots like God.