the chicken-and-egg question still unsolved
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 (9:51 PM)
it has been quite some time since i first heard that the chicken-and-egg question has been unscrambled.
the premise was that genetic material cannot change during an animal's life, hence, the egg presumably laid by a prehistoric animal went through genetic mutation as an embryo. that was where the chicken first appeared. some philosopher agreed and argued that if a kangaroo lays an egg where an ostrich hatches, then it would be an ostrich egg. not a kangaroo egg.
but i'd beg to differ. i don't think it has been solved yet. obviously, when we ask if the chicken or the egg came first, we aren't really referring to the chicken or its egg exclusively. what i comprehended is whether the egg came first or the life that lays it came first.
the supposed solution to the question only begs another question. so did the egg come first or the prehistoric animal come first?