Not as long as some responses I receive!

I agree with you that there are all sorts of interpretations, but I'm not completely clear what your point is. You seem to be disagreeing with what I say, i.e. you seem to be agreeing with McGraw, without actually saying that in so many words. In the Kabbalistic and Gnostic passages I quoted (and in what is to follow) Adam and Eve are not the first humans. You don't mention these passages, but you would need to challenge them in order to support your interpretation.

The story cannot therefore be about the start of human self-consciousness, at least not in the conventional understanding. As you say, they would have to already be conscious.

As for the punishment being death, that makes much more sense in the light of the alternative tradition and understanding.