This article is about the philosophical dilemma. For the dish combining both chicken meat and eggs, see oyakodon.
The chicken or the eggcausalitydilemma is commonly stated as the question, "which came first: the chicken or the egg?" The dilemma stems from the observation that all chickens hatch from eggs and all chicken eggs are laid by chickens. "Chicken-and-egg" is a metaphoric adjective describing situations where it is not clear which of two events should be considered the cause and which should be considered the effect, to express a scenario of infinite regress, or to express the difficulty of sequencing actions where each seems to depend on others being done first. Plutarch posed the question as a philosophical matter in his essay "The Symposiacs", written in the 1st century CE.[1][2]
The question represents an ancient folk paradox addressing the problem of origins and first cause.[3]Aristotle, writing in the fourth century BCE, concluded that this was an infinite sequence, with no true origin.[3] Plutarch, writing four centuries later, specifically highlighted this question as bearing on a "great and weighty problem (whether the world had a beginning)".[4] In the fifth century CE, Macrobius wrote that while the question seemed trivial, it "should be regarded as one of importance".[4]
By the end of the 16th century, the well-known question seemed to have been regarded as settled in the Christian world, based on the origin story of the Bible. In describing the creation of animals, it allows for a first chicken that did not come from an egg. However, later enlightenment philosophers began to question this solution.[4]Carlo Dati in the mid 17th-century published an erudite satire on the subject.[5]
Scientific resolutions
Although the question is typically used metaphorically, evolutionary biology provides literal answers, made possible by the Darwinian principle that species evolve over time, and thus that chickens had ancestors that were not chickens,[4] similar to a view expressed by the Greek philosopher Anaximander when addressing the paradox.[3]
If the question refers to eggs in general, the egg came first. The first amniote egg—that is, a hard-shelled egg that could be laid on land, rather than remaining in water like the eggs of fish or amphibians—appeared around 312 million years ago.[6] In contrast, chickens are domesticated descendants of red junglefowl and probably arose little more than eight thousand years ago, at most.[7]
If the question refers to chicken eggs specifically, the answer is still the egg, but the explanation is more complicated.[8] The process by which the chicken arose through the interbreeding and domestication of multiple species of wild jungle fowl is poorly understood, and the point at which this evolving organism became a chicken is a somewhat arbitrary distinction. Whatever criteria one chooses, an animal nearly identical to the modern chicken (i.e., a proto-chicken) laid a fertilized egg that had DNA making it a modern chicken due to mutations in the mother's ovum, the father's sperm, or the fertilised zygote.[9][4][10][11]
It has been suggested that the actions of a protein found in modern chicken eggs may make the answer different.[10][11] In the uterus, chickens produce ovocleidin-17 (OC-17), which causes the formation of the thickened calcium carbonate shell around their eggs. Because OC-17 is expressed by the hen and not the egg, the bird in which the protein first arose, though having hatched from a non-reinforced egg, would then have laid the first egg having such a reinforced shell: the chicken would have preceded this first 'modern' chicken egg.[10][11] However, the presence of OC-17 or a homolog in other species, such as turkeys[12] and finches[13] suggests that such eggshell-reinforcing proteins are common to all birds,[14] and thus long predate the first chickens.
^"Essays and Miscellanies, by Plutarch". Project Gutenberg. Retrieved 2020-07-07.
^O'Brien, Carl Séan (2015). The Demiurge in Ancient Thought. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. p. 106. ISBN978-1-107-07536-8.
^ abcSorensen, Roy (2003). A Brief History of the Paradox: Philosophy and the Labyrinths of the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 4–11. ISBN978-0-19-515903-5.
^ abcdeFabry, Merrill (2016-09-21). "Now You Know: Which Came First, the Chicken or the Egg?". Time. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
^Cicalata sopra chi fosse prima o la gallina o l'ouovo, by Carlo Dati, Presse Settembre, Naples, 1840.
^Benton, Michael J.; Donoghue, Philip C. J. (2007-01-01). "Paleontological Evidence to Date the Tree of Life". Molecular Biology and Evolution. 24 (1): 26–53. doi:10.1093/molbev/msl150. ISSN 0737-4038. PMID 17047029.
^Miao, Y-W; Peng, M-S; Wu, G-S; Ouyang, Y-N; Yang, Z-Y; Yu, N; Liang, J-P; Pianchou, G; Beja-Pereira, A (2012-12-05). "Chicken domestication: an updated perspective based on mitochondrial genomes". Heredity. 110 (3): 277–282. doi:10.1038/hdy.2012.83. ISSN 1365-2540. PMC3668654. PMID 23211792.
^Sorensen, Roy A. (1992). "The Egg came before the chicken". Mind. 101 (403): 541–542. doi:10.1093/mind/101.403.541.
^Breyer, Melissa (2013-02-11). "Finally answered! Which came first, the chicken or the egg?". Mother Nature Network. Retrieved 2017-07-11.
^ abcZushi, Yo (27 February 2017). "Which came first: the chicken or the egg?". NewStatesman.com.
^ abc"Which came first, the chicken or the egg? British scientists claim to have solved the mystery". NBCnews.com. 14 July 2010.
^Mann, Karlheinz; Mann, Matthias (2013). "The proteome of the calcified layer organic matrix of turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) eggshell". Proteome Sci. 11 (1): 40. doi:10.1186/1477-5956-11-40. PMC3766105. PMID 23981693.
^Mann, Karlheinz (2015). "The calcified eggshell matrix proteome of a songbird, the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata)". Proteome Sci. 13: 29. doi:10.1186/s12953-015-0086-1. PMC4666066. PMID 26628892.
^Hincke, Maxwell T.; Nys, Yves; Gautron, Joel (2010). "The Role of Matrix Proteins in Eggshell Formation". The Journal of Poultry Science. 47 (3): 208–219. doi:10.2141/jpsa.009122.
Further reading
Look up chicken-or-egg question in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Experts apply new technique to crack egg shell problem 2023-03-28 at the Wayback Machine 12 July 2010 Freeman, Colin L.; Harding, John H.; Quigley, David; Rodger, P. Mark (2010). "Structural Control of Crystal Nuclei by an Eggshell Protein". Angewandte Chemie International Edition. 49 (30): 5135–5137. doi:10.1002/anie.201000679. PMID 20540126.
May 08, 2024
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This article is about the philosophical dilemma For the dish combining both chicken meat and eggs see oyakodon The chicken or the egg causality dilemma is commonly stated as the question which came first the chicken or the egg The dilemma stems from the observation that all chickens hatch from eggs and all chicken eggs are laid by chickens Chicken and egg is a metaphoric adjective describing situations where it is not clear which of two events should be considered the cause and which should be considered the effect to express a scenario of infinite regress or to express the difficulty of sequencing actions where each seems to depend on others being done first Plutarch posed the question as a philosophical matter in his essay The Symposiacs written in the 1st century CE 1 2 Illustration from Tacuina sanitatis 14th century Contents 1 Ancient legacy 2 Scientific resolutions 3 See also 4 References 5 Further readingAncient legacyThe question represents an ancient folk paradox addressing the problem of origins and first cause 3 Aristotle writing in the fourth century BCE concluded that this was an infinite sequence with no true origin 3 Plutarch writing four centuries later specifically highlighted this question as bearing on a great and weighty problem whether the world had a beginning 4 In the fifth century CE Macrobius wrote that while the question seemed trivial it should be regarded as one of importance 4 By the end of the 16th century the well known question seemed to have been regarded as settled in the Christian world based on the origin story of the Bible In describing the creation of animals it allows for a first chicken that did not come from an egg However later enlightenment philosophers began to question this solution 4 Carlo Dati in the mid 17th century published an erudite satire on the subject 5 Scientific resolutionsAlthough the question is typically used metaphorically evolutionary biology provides literal answers made possible by the Darwinian principle that species evolve over time and thus that chickens had ancestors that were not chickens 4 similar to a view expressed by the Greek philosopher Anaximander when addressing the paradox 3 If the question refers to eggs in general the egg came first The first amniote egg that is a hard shelled egg that could be laid on land rather than remaining in water like the eggs of fish or amphibians appeared around 312 million years ago 6 In contrast chickens are domesticated descendants of red junglefowl and probably arose little more than eight thousand years ago at most 7 If the question refers to chicken eggs specifically the answer is still the egg but the explanation is more complicated 8 The process by which the chicken arose through the interbreeding and domestication of multiple species of wild jungle fowl is poorly understood and the point at which this evolving organism became a chicken is a somewhat arbitrary distinction Whatever criteria one chooses an animal nearly identical to the modern chicken i e a proto chicken laid a fertilized egg that had DNA making it a modern chicken due to mutations in the mother s ovum the father s sperm or the fertilised zygote 9 4 10 11 It has been suggested that the actions of a protein found in modern chicken eggs may make the answer different 10 11 In the uterus chickens produce ovocleidin 17 OC 17 which causes the formation of the thickened calcium carbonate shell around their eggs Because OC 17 is expressed by the hen and not the egg the bird in which the protein first arose though having hatched from a non reinforced egg would then have laid the first egg having such a reinforced shell the chicken would have preceded this first modern chicken egg 10 11 However the presence of OC 17 or a homolog in other species such as turkeys 12 and finches 13 suggests that such eggshell reinforcing proteins are common to all birds 14 and thus long predate the first chickens See alsoBootstrapping compilers the solution to an analogous problem in computer science Catch 22 Sorites paradoxReferences Essays and Miscellanies by Plutarch Project Gutenberg Retrieved 2020 07 07 O Brien Carl Sean 2015 The Demiurge in Ancient Thought Cambridge England Cambridge University Press p 106 ISBN 978 1 107 07536 8 a b c Sorensen Roy 2003 A Brief History of the Paradox Philosophy and the Labyrinths of the Mind Oxford Oxford University Press pp 4 11 ISBN 978 0 19 515903 5 a b c d e Fabry Merrill 2016 09 21 Now You Know Which Came First the Chicken or the Egg Time Retrieved 2017 07 11 Cicalata sopra chi fosse prima o la gallina o l ouovo by Carlo Dati Presse Settembre Naples 1840 Benton Michael J Donoghue Philip C J 2007 01 01 Paleontological Evidence to Date the Tree of Life Molecular Biology and Evolution 24 1 26 53 doi 10 1093 molbev msl150 ISSN 0737 4038 PMID 17047029 Miao Y W Peng M S Wu G S Ouyang Y N Yang Z Y Yu N Liang J P Pianchou G Beja Pereira A 2012 12 05 Chicken domestication an updated perspective based on mitochondrial genomes Heredity 110 3 277 282 doi 10 1038 hdy 2012 83 ISSN 1365 2540 PMC 3668654 PMID 23211792 Sorensen Roy A 1992 The Egg came before the chicken Mind 101 403 541 542 doi 10 1093 mind 101 403 541 Breyer Melissa 2013 02 11 Finally answered Which came first the chicken or the egg Mother Nature Network Retrieved 2017 07 11 a b c Zushi Yo 27 February 2017 Which came first the chicken or the egg NewStatesman com a b c Which came first the chicken or the egg British scientists claim to have solved the mystery NBCnews com 14 July 2010 Mann Karlheinz Mann Matthias 2013 The proteome of the calcified layer organic matrix of turkey Meleagris gallopavo eggshell Proteome Sci 11 1 40 doi 10 1186 1477 5956 11 40 PMC 3766105 PMID 23981693 Mann Karlheinz 2015 The calcified eggshell matrix proteome of a songbird the zebra finch Taeniopygia guttata Proteome Sci 13 29 doi 10 1186 s12953 015 0086 1 PMC 4666066 PMID 26628892 Hincke Maxwell T Nys Yves Gautron Joel 2010 The Role of Matrix Proteins in Eggshell Formation The Journal of Poultry Science 47 3 208 219 doi 10 2141 jpsa 009122 Further reading nbsp Look up chicken or egg question in Wiktionary the free dictionary Experts apply new technique to crack egg shell problem Archived 2023 03 28 at the Wayback Machine 12 July 2010 Freeman Colin L Harding John H Quigley David Rodger P Mark 2010 Structural Control of Crystal Nuclei by an Eggshell Protein Angewandte Chemie International Edition 49 30 5135 5137 doi 10 1002 anie 201000679 PMID 20540126 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Chicken or the egg amp oldid 1215011196, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
