WHAT CAME FIRST?

Sir,

I am a former pupil of Swazi National High and,  well, I recently found out that one of the most sought-after answers in society, that leaves us genuinely perplexed, is for the question, ‘what came first: the chicken or the egg’?

I, personally, think that the chicken came first but the truth of the matter is, what came first isn’t of much relevance because the current biology is dynamic: at some point the egg is going to a chicken anyway. The chicken/egg conundrum is a reflection of humanity’s need for dependency and the social responsibility of passing down special attributes in the contexts of family, education and science.

From a perspective of basic science, it is proven beyond reasonable doubt that the only way an egg can be able to hatch is through the warmth from a hen. In the present day there is significant sky-rocketing use of artificial incubators, but in time immemorial one way or the other the chicken was needed to incubate the egg. This highlights the intense necessity the egg has on the chicken.

Perspective

From a biological perspective, we have parents and children as one of the nuclear elements in most families. The only way the children came into existence is through their parents and for the child to acquire the most basic of needs, he or she is highly dependent on the parents. Symbolically, the parents are the chicken and the child is the egg. Meaning the egg, practically the child ceases to be something lucrative in the absence of the parents: they are solely depended on their parents. The linkage of child to parent dependency, to the chicken and egg dilemma, is intuitive because it is biologically relatable. Furthermore, it emphasizes the dependency that exists in the natural facet of life.

Education

In the sphere of education, ladies and gentlemen, we have two participants; the pupil and the teacher. In schools, the learning process is facilitated by an educator.

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