If every chimpanzee on Earth were given a typewriter, they wouldn鈥檛 reproduce the works of William Shakespeare even if they kept on typing until the heat death of the universe, researchers have calculated.
The so-called infinite monkey theorem states that if you had an infinite number of primates, or one primate had infinite time, they would almost certainly type out any given text an infinite number of times.
The origins of the theorem are obscure, but it is commonly attributed to mathematician 脡mile Borel or biologist Thomas Henry Huxley. The general idea may even extend back to Aristotle鈥檚 Metaphysics.
Advertisement
at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) in Australia, says that while the theorem is mathematically true, it is 鈥渢otally misleading鈥�. 鈥淭he reality of an infinite universe or infinite monkeys does not apply to us,鈥� he says.
He and his colleague聽, also at UTS, have now mathematically tested a more realistic proposition, which they call the finite monkey theorem.
In their scenario, the current global population of around 200,000 chimpanzees would type one key every second until the end of the universe in about 10100 years (a 1 followed by 100 zeros).
They estimate that it would take a single chimp 300,000,000 random keystrokes to write the word 鈥渂ananas鈥�, and the probability that one of those 200,000 apes would actually achieve the modest feat in its lifetime would be just 5 per cent.
However, the chances rapidly become infinitesimal as the task becomes more complicated 鈥� so the probability of a single chimp randomly writing 鈥淚 chimp therefore I am鈥� is just 1 in 10 million billion billion.
The entire works of Shakespeare, comprising nearly 885,000 words, would take 107448366 random keystrokes, requiring much more time than the expected lifespan of the universe.
鈥淲e did the maths from one monkey to the scale of infinity monkeys and we can say categorically it鈥檚 not going to happen,鈥� says Woodcock. 鈥淚f every atom in the universe was a universe in itself, it still wouldn鈥檛 happen.鈥�
The astronomical odds against humans鈥� close relatives writing Shakespeare emphasise how miraculous it is that humans have such abilities, says Woodcock. 鈥淲e are, ourselves, the lottery-winning chimps.鈥�
Franklin Open
