Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

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Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby bodom » Sat Jun 26, 2010 11:03 pm

That insoluble problem that people — whether children or adults, intelligent or stupid — argue about uselessly and without ever coming to an agreement, is this: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? For the most part, they argue about this only in jest and can never come to any conclusion. Still, there were people who would bring this question to Luang Pu, thinking that he probably wouldn't answer a question of this sort. But eventually I heard him give an answer like nobody else's when one day Phra Berm came to massage his feet and asked him, "Luang Pu, which came first, the chicken or the egg?

"Luang Pu answered,

"They came at the same time."

http://www.what-buddha-taught.net/Books ... Legacy.htm

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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby tiltbillings » Sat Jun 26, 2010 11:58 pm

I always thought a chicken was an egg's way of having another egg.

What is the use of his knowledge
pertaining to the number of insects in the whole world?
Rather, inquire into his knowledge of
that which is to be practised by us

-- Dharmakirti

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond.
SN I, 38.

Níl sa saol seo ach ceo
There is naught in this life but mist
Is ní bheimid beo ach seal beag gearr.
And we will not be alive but a short hard time.
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby David N. Snyder » Sun Jun 27, 2010 1:44 am

There are some interesting and some humorous answers here:

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Which_came_fi ... or_the_egg

I think the most factual one from science and evolution is the egg; since the first "chicken" egg came from one or two similar species who mated and produced enough genetic variations to their gene pool to produce a new species which would later be known as the 'chicken.'
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby Monkey Mind » Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:02 am

Ah, but then we'd ask which came first for the "other species", the adult or the egg. It so on it goes...
"As I am, so are others;
as others are, so am I."
Having thus identified self and others,
harm no one nor have them harmed.

Sutta Nipāta 3.710
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby David N. Snyder » Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:15 am

Monkey Mind wrote:Ah, but then we'd ask which came first for the "other species", the adult or the egg. It so on it goes...


It's always the egg.
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby Thaibebop » Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:24 am

The mystery of this question is lost on me. Chickens, being birds, are direct decedents of certain dinosaurs, which were reptiles that developed feathers, meaning they laid eggs. Egg came first.
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby cooran » Sun Jun 27, 2010 3:23 am

But .... but .... who laid the egg? Not created by G--, was it?

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby Ben » Sun Jun 27, 2010 3:34 am

You guys can't see the wood from the trees.

The egg came first.

Eggs Benedict for breakfast followed by chicken at lunch or dinner time.

There's your solution!
...he wondered whether there was any love between human beings that did not rest upon some sort of self-delusion.

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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby cooran » Sun Jun 27, 2010 3:40 am

Oh Ben! You are SUCH a boy! :tongue:

with metta
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby mikenz66 » Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:17 am

OK, here's some real research... Maybe...

Which Came First — The Chicken Or the Egg?
I tackled the question experimentally, using a chicken, an egg, and the United States Postal Service (USPS).

I mailed the chicken and the egg, each in its own separate packaging, and kept careful track of when each shipment was sent from a post office in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and when it subsequently arrived at its intended destination in New York City.
....
http://improbable.com/airchives/paperai ... n_egg.html

Mike
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby Anicca » Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:53 am

Which came first the chicken or the egg? - Come on youse guys - y'all are all way off base - Da Rooster came first! Get real! Cock-a-doodly-doodle y'all!

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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby tiltbillings » Sun Jun 27, 2010 4:58 am

Anicca wrote:Which came first the chicken or the egg? - Come on youse guys - y'all are all way off base - Da Rooster came first! Get real! Cock-a-doodly-doodle y'all!

?Metta?
Barnyard humor from Oklahoma.

What is the use of his knowledge
pertaining to the number of insects in the whole world?
Rather, inquire into his knowledge of
that which is to be practised by us

-- Dharmakirti

This being is bound to samsara, kamma is his means for going beyond.
SN I, 38.

Níl sa saol seo ach ceo
There is naught in this life but mist
Is ní bheimid beo ach seal beag gearr.
And we will not be alive but a short hard time.
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby Bhikkhu Pesala » Sun Jun 27, 2010 8:23 am

Which came first, Ignorance (avijjā) or mental formations (kamma/saṅkhārā) ?
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby cooran » Sun Jun 27, 2010 8:36 am

Dear Bhante,

Good pointer! I think we recently had a thread on this:

Different causes of sankhara?
viewtopic.php?f=13&t=4739&start=0

with metta and respect,
Chris
---The trouble is that you think you have time---
---It's not what happens to you in life that is important ~ it's what you do with it ---
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby acinteyyo » Sun Jun 27, 2010 9:31 am

Reminds me of the thread: Can effect arise simulteneously with its cause?.
My favourite answer to "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" is: There's no beginning within a circle.

best wishes, acinteyyo
Pubbe cāhaṃ bhikkhave, etarahi ca dukkhañceva paññāpemi, dukkhassa ca nirodhaṃ. (M.22)
Both formerly, monks, and now, it is just suffering that I make known and the ending of suffering.

:anjali:
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby Thaibebop » Sun Jun 27, 2010 2:05 pm

cooran wrote:But .... but .... who laid the egg? Not created by G--, was it?

with metta
Chris

The lizard did. The dinosaur that developed feathers laid eggs and after several generations produced birds, all though laying eggs, which was first developed by the dinosaur. God is not part of any of this.
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby Donuts Dad » Tue Jun 29, 2010 5:50 pm

FRIED RICE

Oil, garlic, onion, pepper, CHICKEN, fish sauce, ginger, pea pods, rice, EGG, spring onion.

The answer is chicken.
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Re: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

Postby bodom » Wed Jul 14, 2010 10:52 pm

Chicken-and-Egg Mystery Finally Cracked

British scientists believe they have found the answer to an ages-old question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg?

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/07/ ... y-cracked/

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