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Chicken and egg question

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  • 10-11-2010 4:22pm
    #1
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭


    I've heard this debated out recently on QI but no one ever brought up what the egg actually is. Is the egg a part of the mother or the foul being born?

    The question can be answered in a few different ways depending how you look at it but surely weather the egg is it's own separate entity or part of the chicken would have some effect on the answer.


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    #2
    Capt'n Midnight
    Moderators, Recreation & Hobbies Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators, Technology & Internet Moderators Posts: 90,802 Mod ✭✭✭✭Capt'n Midnight


    The egg has the DNA of the child not the parent. The yoke is the biggest single celled organism you'll see.


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    #3
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    So you could say the chicken and the egg are the same thing and came at the same time?


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    #4
    Dan_Solo
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 10,087 ✭✭✭✭Dan_Solo


    ScumLord wrote: »
    I've heard this debated out recently on QI but no one ever brought up what the egg actually is. Is the egg a part of the mother or the foul being born?
    An egg is as separate from the chicken that laid it as much as a baby is separate from the mother that gave birth to it. All progeny share a varying amount of chemical material with their parent, but they are biologically independent.


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    #5
    Dan_Solo
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 10,087 ✭✭✭✭Dan_Solo


    ScumLord wrote: »
    So you could say the chicken and the egg are the same thing and came at the same time?
    The original egg that contained what we refer to as a "chicken" was laid by an animal very much but not exactly like a chicken. During reproduction a random mutation meant the DNA in the egg was different enough from the DNA of the parent for humans to consider them separate species.


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    #6
    ScumLord
    Registered Users Posts: 28,789 ✭✭✭✭ScumLord


    Dan_Solo wrote: »
    The original egg that contained what we refer to as a "chicken" was laid by an animal very much but not exactly like a chicken. During reproduction a random mutation meant the DNA in the egg was different enough from the DNA of the parent for humans to consider them separate species.
    But is the question itself a bit flawed in that it would be like asking which came first my right arm or my left arm?


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    #7
    nice1franko
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,300 ✭✭✭nice1franko


    Since what we call a chicken today evolved from a type of reptile which hatched from eggs then you can say that, generally speaking, the egg existed before (what we now call) a chicken even existed.

    If you mean the *chickens* egg then the question is fundamentally flawed since it's premise is ignorant of evolution. Neither existed before t'other. As Mr ScumLord correctly analogises, they are two parts of the same thing.


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    #8
    sineadgalway
    Registered Users Posts: 232 ✭✭sineadgalway


    A chicken and an egg are lying in bed. The chicken is leaning against
    the headboard smoking a cigarette, with a satisfied smile on its face.
    The egg, looking a bit pissed off, grabs the sheet, rolls over, and
    says, "Well, I guess we finally answered THAT question"


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