There was a time when my friend asked me of a very absurd question. I didn’t really know what to say and how to react to it. He did not ask me to solve quadratic equations or analyze algebraic expressions and yet I loathed it. Yes, he would not dare test my mathematical prowess. I’ll just end up tousling my hair and scratching my scalp as if dandruff is giving me the itch. He knows that for a fact. But the question was puzzling compared to those math problems. He asked me, “Which came first, chicken or egg?”
I can’t make the ends and tails of that question. I don’t know what the heck it is all about. Grrrhhh…That was an instance when my gray matter was not doing anything for me. There are ideas that are absurd and would take a lot of time for my brain to comprehend. At that point, I considered the question far-fetched and out-of-this-world. I am not good at reasoning and my logic is quite poor. Yeah. I hated our logic class in college that’s why I got a big 2.1 for that. The subject bores me to death and my brain goes numb. Now, I am paying so much for my sluggishness.
My p-o-o-r logical ability was put to a test. What can I possibly think of? Going back to our biology class, I know that an egg is hatched to become a chicken. On the other hand, a chicken is needed to hatch an egg. I can’t really think of any concrete argument to support my answer. It’s because the previous argument would lead to the other. I was jut running in circles with no finish line at all. That was a brain-cracking question that would trouble your peaceful mind.
I didn’t know how to describe the situation that time. I had no idea if there is a logical basis behind that question. How come it was not discussed in our logic class? Lately, I found out that it is described as “Catch 22”, an idiom derived from a novel written by Joseph Heller in 1961. I was lucky to dig up its meaning in the internet. I was right when I described it as “absurd”! Answers.com defines it as “a situation or predicament characterized by absurdity or senselessness.”
Now I know. The “chicken-egg” dilemma is only a classic example of Catch 22. When you’re caught in the same situation, don’t freak out! Don’t give your mind a tough mental work. Don’t blame yourself for a humiliating logical ability. Lastly, don’t give yourself an outrageous dilemma.
LEX-pressions 