Sample 2 - What came first, the chicken or the egg?

Title: What came first, the chicken or the egg?

What you should know: The answer is the egg.

This traditional brain teaser is actually a specious/misleading question; it does not take into account a broader range of information and relies upon a misunderstanding of history and lack of evolutionary knowledge.

It would seem that the chicken first needs the egg (to come from) and that the egg first needs the chicken (to come out of). We can begin trying to answer this question by asking a question: Which chicken and which egg? Obviously if we pick a particular chicken and a particular egg we can show which one came first.

But, says the questioner, “I don’t mean a chicken and an egg, I mean the chicken and the egg.” Here one has to wonder what ‘the’ actually means. Well, if the questioner is referring to the existence of chickens and the existence of eggs, the answer is obviously eggs. This is because of the history of life on earth. Life began as simple, single-celled organisms, and over billions of years more complex life evolved. Various branches in the tree of life (a bush is likely a better metaphor) evolved into more complex forms. Chronologically, bacteria appeared first, then worms, then fish, then reptiles, then birds and then mammals. (Note that this list is neither linear, nor a progression, just the appearance of different organisms in time). Since we know that reptiles hatch from eggs and reptiles preceded birds, then we can conclude eggs preceded chickens. Thus the egg came first. I would assert that for the question to make sense it should be interpreted as done above, and given that interpretation, “the egg” is the answer.

Why you should know it: For two main reasons. One is to remember to think about what a questions is actually asking. If the question itself does not make sense, then it is highly likely that an answer will also either be unattainable or nonsensical. Secondly, the use of the chicken and the egg ‘problem’ is pervasive in our society without really being coherent. Consequently, to help simplify a complex situation, many people invoke an incoherent cultural cliché which does not fit analogously, nor does it actually explain anything. Such occurrences might give some indication of why there are problems in the first place.

Further thought: A better question is: Which came first, DNA or the protein? This is because it truly seems like each is required for the development/existence of the other. Another reason is that this is an actual question that inspires current research. The current thinking is that possibly some form of rudimentary DNA was used, but there is not yet a definitive answer.