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Monkeys Will Never Type Shakespeare, Study Finds
BBC ^ | 11/2 | Hannah Ritchie

Posted on 11/02/2024 12:41:51 PM PDT by nickcarraway

Two Australian mathematicians have called into question an old adage, that if given an infinite amount of time, a monkey pressing keys on a typewriter would eventually write the complete works of William Shakespeare.

Known as the "infinite monkey theorem", the thought-experiment has long been used to explain the principles of probability and randomness.

However, a new peer-reviewed study led by Sydney-based researchers Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta has found that the time it would take for a typing monkey to replicate Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and poems would be longer than the lifespan of our universe.

Which means that while mathematically true, the theorem is "misleading", they say.

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...


TOPICS: Books/Literature; Computers/Internet; Pets/Animals
KEYWORDS: animalhusbandry; australia; clickbait; epigraphyandlanguage; godsgravesglyphs; hannahritchie; infinitemonkeys; jayfalletta; stephenwoodcock; williamshakespeare
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To: Ken H

Bob Newhart?


61 posted on 11/02/2024 3:05:33 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: frank ballenger

The only one I remember was the one with the octium chip and the airplanes.


62 posted on 11/02/2024 3:10:14 PM PDT by algore
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To: SunkenCiv

Can’t remember where I heard that one.


63 posted on 11/02/2024 3:14:15 PM PDT by Ken H (Trump 2024)
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To: nickcarraway

Of course not. Monkeys are old school. Pen and paper for them. They eschew modern technology.


64 posted on 11/02/2024 3:15:04 PM PDT by Fuzz
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To: SunkenCiv

No Monkeys in Shakespeare? Are they being discriminated against?


65 posted on 11/02/2024 3:21:48 PM PDT by left that other site (Ask Not What The Left is Doing. Ask What They Are Accusing YOU of Doing.)
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To: Larry Lucido

I have been reliably informed that Shakespeare is merely a series of dick jokes strung together in some literary sense with lots of Olde English bawdy tales as inspiration. So, get your mind back into its dirtiest 16-year old fantasy mode & sit down at the keyboard to create. 😉


66 posted on 11/02/2024 3:26:34 PM PDT by T-Bird45 (It feels like the seventies, and it shouldn't. )
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To: SunkenCiv

Some could argue that even without the infinite monkeys,

On a tiny mostly harmless planet far from the galactic empire some lost monkey decedents did in fact recreate many of the works of Shakespeare.


67 posted on 11/02/2024 3:26:49 PM PDT by algore
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To: SunkenCiv

ROTFLMAO! Oh, man, that made my day!


68 posted on 11/02/2024 3:27:05 PM PDT by Retrofitted
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To: ChessExpert

Okay. I don’t know either. I kinda doubt humans will ever know.


69 posted on 11/02/2024 3:44:47 PM PDT by A Navy Vet (USA Birth Certificate - 1787. Death Certificate - 2021? )
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To: Ken H

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGdMTLgU4hE


70 posted on 11/02/2024 3:47:53 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: left that other site

I blame Mick Jagger.


71 posted on 11/02/2024 3:50:11 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: Retrofitted; algore; left that other site; Ken H
Of course, it wouldn't have to be Shakespeare, any great book would probably satisfy the test. And it's happened!

Gibbon wrote "The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire".
Rimshot!

72 posted on 11/02/2024 3:54:07 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Good find!


73 posted on 11/02/2024 4:02:16 PM PDT by Ken H (Trump 2024)
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To: libh8er

That was my first thought after reading the article.


74 posted on 11/02/2024 4:04:06 PM PDT by RightInEastLansing
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To: Stosh

From Reddit (for what it’s worth)

“TIL ‘Infinite Monkey Theorem’ was tested using real monkeys. Monkeys typed nothing but pages consisting mainly of the letter ‘S.’ The lead male began typing by bashing the keyboard with a stone while other monkeys urinated and defecated on it. They concluded that monkeys are not “random generators”

citation to follow


75 posted on 11/02/2024 4:10:40 PM PDT by Stosh
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To: Stosh

citation for reply above

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/a1gkho/til_infinite_monkey_theorem_was_tested_using_real/


76 posted on 11/02/2024 4:12:01 PM PDT by Stosh
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To: SunkenCiv

Not Shakespeare, but they could easily type NY Times editorials......,.


77 posted on 11/02/2024 4:53:52 PM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegals are put up in 5 Star hotels....................)
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To: Qwapisking

Little weeny monkeys?


78 posted on 11/02/2024 5:03:27 PM PDT by Chickensoup
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To: algore

Forgot that epic episode. I saw no X Files or Lone Gunmen when they were first run. Just last year or so.

That episode “Pilot” about the crashing of a jumbo jet into the World Trade Center BEFORE it happened.
Where do they get those crazy ideas?

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0635314/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_ov_pl


79 posted on 11/02/2024 5:22:41 PM PDT by frank ballenger (There's a battle outside and it's raging. It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls. )
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To: Larry Lucido

Now you made me search;

The Monkees Mike Nesmith Interviews Frank Zappa (1967)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcRzyZOL_no

3 years later he sang this beautiful song;

Michael Nesmith - Joanne

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxALH_3qadg

In 1981 Nesmith decided that the song needed a sequel;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8Yg2Y2y_dU


80 posted on 11/02/2024 5:26:09 PM PDT by Hillarys Gate Cult (“History doesn’t repeat itself but it often rhymes” - Possibly Mark Twain.)
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