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Anne Dalke writes: "(I'm thinking here of an analogy to the Christian concept of the "fortunate fall")--> that those misunderstandings are good things, because they are the gaps wherein we can go exploring, wherein we can learn what it is we don't already know..."

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Hi Anne, I am not specifically aquainted with the 'fortunate fall' doctrine as you call it. However, it sounds familliar...

I believe Paul addressed these same issues in his letter to the Roman church.

Romans 6:1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? 2 By no means!...

...14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace. 15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!

From what little I can gather from the concept Anne, I have to question what it is we think we know...

From the Biblical perspective, we have yet to learn or explore what the world would have been like had we obeyed God from the beginning. The fact is, that according to God's Word, we very quickly moved into exploring other options for ourselves rather than trusting God, and having faith in Him to lead us into greater and greater dimensions of paradise.

The irony is... there was only one rule to trust Him with in the beginning. Appearently, knowledge of 'good only' wasn't enough for us. We wanted to become god right out of the box:
Genesis 2:16 And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die."

And of course Satan comes to our minds with the seed of doubt, and tempts us to believe that we can be God:
Genesis 3:1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?" 2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'" 4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Did you notice that the serpent is not one of the wild animals? It doesn't say that he was craftier than 'the other' wild animals, but craftier than 'any of the' wild animals (just an aside).

I think the only thing we actually know, is that we, our world, and our thinking is corrupted and dying because we (the collective beast) have rejected and crucified God.

The only exploration and unknown is what the world would be like without our pride that results in all sin.

Assuming such a transaction can be made, what would you give in exchange for actually knowing God and not having to guess at what reality is (who God is), and who you are, and what life is meant to be?