The fig leaf originated as shame about death, not just nudity

Evidence

Eating the apple from the Tree of Knowledge reveals the worm at its core, awareness of mortality, which in turn makes the naked human body shameful. The fig leaf was the first body adornment. — Sheldon Solomon, Jeff Greenberg, Tom Pyszczynski, The Worm at the Core, 568

Categorization

• DEFINE: Links the book’s titular ‘worm at the core’ metaphor directly to the Eden story — self-explaining title payoff.