The age-old adage that an infinite number of monkeys typing at keyboards would eventually produce the complete works of William Shakespeare has been a popular thought experiment for decades. However, a groundbreaking new study by Australian mathematicians has called this notion into question, revealing that even if all the chimpanzees on Earth were given the entire lifespan of the universe, they would “almost certainly” never pen the Bard’s masterpieces.
Putting the Infinite Monkey Theorem to the Test
The study, published in the journal Franklin Open, sought to test the infinite monkey theorem by applying generous yet finite limits to the hypothetical monkey typists. The researchers based their calculations on a monkey spending roughly 30 years typing one key per second on a keyboard with 30 keys, representing the 26 letters of the English alphabet plus a few common punctuation marks.
The Shocking Results
The findings were staggering. According to the study, the time it would take for a single typing monkey to randomly reproduce Shakespeare’s works would far exceed the lifespan of our universe, estimated to end in a “heat death” after a googol of years (that’s a 1 followed by 100 zeroes). As study co-author Stephen Woodcock explained to New Scientist:
“It’s not even like one in a million. If every atom in the universe was a universe in itself, it still wouldn’t happen.”
– Stephen Woodcock, University of Technology Sydney
To put it into perspective, the researchers found that a single monkey would have only around a 5% chance of randomly typing the word “bananas” within its lifetime. Shakespeare’s canon, on the other hand, contains a staggering 884,647 words – and not a single mention of bananas.
Expanding the Monkey Workforce
In an attempt to improve the odds, the mathematicians expanded their hypothetical workforce to include all 200,000 chimpanzees currently living on Earth, assuming this population would remain stable until the end of time. Even with this massive primate labor force, the chances of reproducing Shakespeare’s works remained infinitesimally small.
The authors concluded that even if many more chimps were added to the equation and typing speeds were increased, it is still not plausible “that monkey labor will ever be a viable tool for developing written works of anything beyond the trivial.”
Previous Monkey Typing Experiments
This isn’t the first time the infinite monkey theorem has been put to the test. In a previous trial, six Sulawesi crested macaque monkeys were given four weeks with a computer, resulting in a mere five pages of mostly “S”-filled text. The Australian study’s findings further reinforce the notion that relying on random chance to produce meaningful written works is a fruitless endeavor.
The Implications for Probability and Chance
The study’s results have far-reaching implications for our understanding of probability and the role of chance in the universe. While the infinite monkey theorem has long been used to demonstrate how even incredibly unlikely events can become probable given enough time, the Australian researchers have shown that there are limits to this concept when applied to finite, albeit generous, constraints.
As we continue to explore the boundaries of probability and chance, studies like this one remind us that even in a vast universe filled with possibilities, some things may remain forever beyond the reach of random chance – including a chimpanzee with a typewriter penning the next great Shakespearean masterpiece.
