IT IS A SIMPLE PRINCIPLE THAT I HAVE UNDERSTOOD FROM THE TIME I WAS A CHILD; UNBEKNOWNST TO THOSE AROUND ME, I POSITED A THEORY WHICH WAS PHILOSOPHICALLY VALID, THOUGH IT APPEARED TO BE NONSENSE.

THE EGG

VISUALIZE A NUMBER LINE, CENTERED ON ZERO. LEFTWARD IS THE NEGATIVE, THAT WHICH DOES NOT EXIST, THAT WHICH WE DISREGARD. NOW LOOK RIGHT WHERE YOU WILL FIND THE TANGIBLE. AMEND SO THAT EACH OF THEM, NEGATIVE AND POSITIVE, SPAN OUTWARDS FIVE PACES.

AT NEGATIVE FIVE (HENCEFORTH: "-5") THERE IS NOTHING. THIS IS THE TIME BEFORE LIFE.

AT NEGATIVE FOUR (-4) THERE IS ONE SPECIMEN: THE FIRST CELLULAR LIFE (WHO I WILL NAME "JORDAN")

AT NEGATIVE THREE (-3) THERE IS THE FIRST HUMAN LIFE. IE. THE FIRST LIFE WE WOULD RECOGNIZE AS "HUMAN". IT LIVES, DIES UNSPECTACULARLY. THERE IS NO CEREMONY.

AT NEGATIVE TWO HUMANS ARE BEGINNING TO UNDERSTAND THE UTILITY OF "FARMING" BUT HAVE NOT YET BRED LIVESTOCK SPECIFICALLY. THEY SLAUGHTER JUNGLEFOWL AND POACH EGGS FROM THESE CREATURES' NESTS.

AT NEGATIVE ONE THE HUMANS HAVE CREATED A NEW CREATURE, BRED FROM AN OLD ONE: THE CHICKEN, WHICH CAME FROM JUNGLEFOWL. THE CHICKEN IS MORE DOCILE THAN ITS PREDECESSOR. AT THIS POINT (0) AND ONLY AT THIS POINT MAY WE FIND "THE EGG." THE EGG IS THE FIRST EGG PRODUCED FROM THE FIRST CHICKEN, THE FIRST THING WE RECOGNIZE AS A "CHICKEN" RATHER THAN A JUNGLEFOWL. THE CHICKEN, PRESENT AT -1, CAME FIRST.

THE EGG IS THE BEGINNING.