On Wednesday, various media outlets trumpeted the news that science has come up with an answer to the age-old question, “Which came first: the chicken or the egg?”
In response, PZ Myers over at Pharyngula went apoplectic. The problem? Well, the research says nothing about which came first. All it says is that scientists isolated a protein in chicken ovaries that binds with calcium and is linked to shell formation.
But in other animals, a different protein is responsible for creating the shell. So, it’s not all that groundbreaking, despite the breathless claims of the news stories. As a matter of fact, the evidence remains quite clear on this one. Chickens, as did all birds, evolved from dinosaurs. Dinosaurs laid eggs. Ergo, the egg came before the chicken.
But why such defensiveness from folks like Myers? I mean, yes, it’s kind of a lame story. But it’s summer. It’s hot. And all that science stuff makes writers’ brains hurt. Once in a while, isn’t it just so much easier to go with the easy headline word play even if it is kind of dumb? (See above headline.) Can’t we all just give folks a break?
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could. But the problem is that those kinds of headlines are like, well, cracked corn for creationists. They read stuff like that and say, “Hey fancy pants scientists, this proves the Bible is literally true and science is stupid.” As it is said in Genesis 1:20: And God said, “Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.”
Here’s what young earth creationist Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis had to say about the articles:
Well, the secular world is catching up to what the Bible has taught all along. At our student assemblies over the years, I have often taught children the answer to this chicken and egg problem this way: “What came first: the chicken or the egg? Well the Bible teaches us that God made the flying creatures on day five of creation, and God told the animals to be fruitful and multiply. So obviously the chicken (a bird) came first, and then they laid eggs.” So the kids would learn it this way, “The chicken came first because God made the birds on day five of the creation week!”
