Philosopher Frog on the chicken and the egg
Which came first, the chicken or the egg?
‘Frog, I am in a dilemma. I am going round in circles.’
‘In circles, Toady, then you are not going anywhere.’
‘That’s right, Frog, I am not going anywhere.’
‘Where do you want to go?’
‘I want to go in a straight line, Frog, but all I can see are circles.’
‘Then, is something wrong with your eyes. Old friend?’
‘Not my eyes, Frog, my logic.’
‘You mean you can’t think straight, Toady?’
‘Exactly, Frog.’
‘Well, tell me all about it.’
‘At my school, Toady College, we have all been asked which came first the chicken or the egg.’
‘And you don’t know the answer, Toady.’
‘I don’t Frog, I don’t. If I answer the question with ‘the chicken which comes from the egg,’ someone else says that is wrong because the egg comes from the chicken. How can both be right?’
‘Well, this is a circular problem, indeed Toady, if the chicken comes from the egg and the egg comes from the chicken.’
‘There must be an answer Frog?’ Isn’t that so?’
‘Yes, Toady, there must be an answer.
‘So how can I tell which comes first, the chicken or the egg?’
‘You can’t tell by simple observation in this case, Toady, because you observe that the chicken comes from the egg and the egg from the chicken, so you must ask questions of what you observe, Toady.’
‘Questions? What questions must I ask?’
‘The most important questions are which, what, how, when, where, why and who, Toady. You must always keep these questions in your mind. Never let them out of sight.’
‘I won’t Frog, I won’t. But which ones should I use to find the answer of which came first, the chicken or the egg?’
‘You just used which, Toady. Why did you use which?’
‘To find out which of the questions I need to ask?’
‘Good Toady. Tell me Toady, old friend, which is the parent, the chicken or the egg?’
‘Which? The parent is the chicken.’
‘Right Toady, by asking which is the parent you got the answer right. But not quite right because the chicken needs a cock to have an egg which becomes a chicken.’
‘Ah! Now I see it clearly. The egg can’t come at all without parents!’
‘That is right, Toady. The chicken, male and female, must come first before an egg can become a chicken. So the answer must be the chicken always comes before the egg.’
‘You used the question which, Toady. Now try the question how.’
‘Do you mean how does the chicken come first?’
‘Yes.’
‘It comes first because it is the mother that lays the egg. That is how an egg is laid.’
‘Yes, you are right, Toady. In the beginning, before any chicks or hens were created, God made a mother and a father hen, one male and one female chicken. He didn’t create an egg first because there was no chicken to take care of it. It takes a hen twenty one days brooding on an egg before it turns into a chick.’
‘Is that so! Well that settles it, Frog. If an egg cannot turn into a chick without a chick sitting on it, the egg will die.’
‘Good, Toady. Now you are beginning to ask questions and that is the next step after observing things.
‘In circles, Toady, then you are not going anywhere.’
‘That’s right, Frog, I am not going anywhere.’
‘Where do you want to go?’
‘I want to go in a straight line, Frog, but all I can see are circles.’
‘Then, is something wrong with your eyes. Old friend?’
‘Not my eyes, Frog, my logic.’
‘You mean you can’t think straight, Toady?’
‘Exactly, Frog.’
‘Well, tell me all about it.’
‘At my school, Toady College, we have all been asked which came first the chicken or the egg.’
‘And you don’t know the answer, Toady.’
‘I don’t Frog, I don’t. If I answer the question with ‘the chicken which comes from the egg,’ someone else says that is wrong because the egg comes from the chicken. How can both be right?’
‘Well, this is a circular problem, indeed Toady, if the chicken comes from the egg and the egg comes from the chicken.’
‘There must be an answer Frog?’ Isn’t that so?’
‘Yes, Toady, there must be an answer.
‘So how can I tell which comes first, the chicken or the egg?’
‘You can’t tell by simple observation in this case, Toady, because you observe that the chicken comes from the egg and the egg from the chicken, so you must ask questions of what you observe, Toady.’
‘Questions? What questions must I ask?’
‘The most important questions are which, what, how, when, where, why and who, Toady. You must always keep these questions in your mind. Never let them out of sight.’
‘I won’t Frog, I won’t. But which ones should I use to find the answer of which came first, the chicken or the egg?’
‘You just used which, Toady. Why did you use which?’
‘To find out which of the questions I need to ask?’
‘Good Toady. Tell me Toady, old friend, which is the parent, the chicken or the egg?’
‘Which? The parent is the chicken.’
‘Right Toady, by asking which is the parent you got the answer right. But not quite right because the chicken needs a cock to have an egg which becomes a chicken.’
‘Ah! Now I see it clearly. The egg can’t come at all without parents!’
‘That is right, Toady. The chicken, male and female, must come first before an egg can become a chicken. So the answer must be the chicken always comes before the egg.’
‘You used the question which, Toady. Now try the question how.’
‘Do you mean how does the chicken come first?’
‘Yes.’
‘It comes first because it is the mother that lays the egg. That is how an egg is laid.’
‘Yes, you are right, Toady. In the beginning, before any chicks or hens were created, God made a mother and a father hen, one male and one female chicken. He didn’t create an egg first because there was no chicken to take care of it. It takes a hen twenty one days brooding on an egg before it turns into a chick.’
‘Is that so! Well that settles it, Frog. If an egg cannot turn into a chick without a chick sitting on it, the egg will die.’
‘Good, Toady. Now you are beginning to ask questions and that is the next step after observing things.
