Gaawa_chan posted...
Sometimes I'm a little baffled that people look at this story and see it as somehow less bizarre or more special than any other weird-ass origin story from any other land.
Philosophically, I personally see it as a way to establish the point of "the intelligence and wisdom you have as a human isn't something that you deserve because you're more special than other species, it's something that was taken illegitimately by your ancestors." It's meant to promote humility, the idea that humans are just a part of this world and not something special, and that because this intelligence isn't truly ours to use, we owe it to the world to use it for the world's benefit and not just humanity's. It's answering the question of "why are we different from other animals and what does that mean for our place in this world?", which is something a lot of creation myths seek to answer.
The literal "that lady stole my smartypants fruit and now you all have to beg for my forgiveness forever" thing is pretty ridiculous, but the basic idea of recognizing that human intelligence is a gift that none of us have earned has value in teaching humility.