先有雞？還是先有蛋？我的答案是：先有蛋。

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

那是一顆可以孵出雞的蛋，但不是雞生的蛋。
An egg that could hatch into a chicken—but wasn't necessarily laid by a chicken.

雞是卵生的動物，不可能直接生出雞。
Chickens are oviparous creatures. They can't just appear out of nowhere.

所以必須先有那顆蛋，才能孵出第一隻雞。
So there must have been an egg before the first chicken.

而這顆蛋，可能是某種不明生物下的，結果竟然孵出一隻雞。
And that egg? It might have been laid by some unknown creature that—somehow—hatched a chicken.

是鳥？是飛機？不——是超人嗎？
A bird? A plane? No—Superman?

不管是什麼，反正他就是會下蛋。
Whatever it was—it laid an egg. That’s all that mattered.

蛋孵化成雞，雞再生蛋，部分的蛋又孵出雞，就這樣誕生了「雞蛋產業鏈」。
The egg hatches a chicken, the chicken lays more eggs, some of which hatch into more chickens—thus begins the egg economy.

這時大家都在討論先有雞還是先有蛋，卻沒有人問——
生出第一顆蛋的生物，到底是不是雞？
While everyone argues about which came first, no one asks—
Was the one who laid the first egg even a chicken?

假設有一個鳥類創造者，造出一顆可以孵出雞的蛋，然後孵出一隻雞，這隻雞開始下蛋，蛋再孵雞，雞再下蛋……
就這樣，一條「雞蛋產業鏈」就被創造出來了。
Imagine a “bird-like creator” who produces a single egg that hatches a chicken, which lays more eggs, which hatch more chickens, and so on…
And just like that, the chicken-and-egg industry chain is born.

這讓我想起另一種生物：
This reminds me of another peculiar creature:

他找來一個人，頒給他一張證書，說：「你通過認證了！」（第一顆蛋）
He picks someone and says, “You’re certified!” (The first egg)

接著說：「我可以訓練你成為講師，幫別人考照。」（第一隻雞）
Then adds, “I can train you to become a trainer, so you can certify others.” (The first chicken)

講師開始開課，訓練更多人通過認證（更多的蛋）
The trainer starts teaching and certifying more people (more eggs)

有些通過的人也被訓練成講師（更多的雞）……
Some of those certified go on to become trainers themselves (more chickens)…

這樣，認證產業鏈就被孵出來了。
Thus, the certification industry chain is hatched.

其實，這聽起來更像是「近親繁殖」。
Honestly, this sounds more like professional inbreeding.

聽起來是不是合情合理？
Sounds legit, right?

但有沒有人想過一個問題：
那個創辦人，他自己有通過認證嗎？
But has anyone ever asked—
Did the founder ever get certified themselves?

他可以決定誰合格、誰能教課、誰可以孵蛋。
They get to decide who’s qualified, who can teach, and who’s allowed to lay the next egg.

而整個體系建立起來後，
每隻雞都要求別人拿出證明你是「正統的蛋」。
Once the system is up and running,
Every chicken demands proof that you came from a “proper egg.”

但從來沒人問——
「欸，那第一顆蛋，是哪來的？」
But no one ever asks—
“Hey… where did the first egg come from?”