Universe would die before monkey with keyboard writes Shakespeare, study finds (www.theguardian.com)
from neme@lemm.ee to science@mander.xyz on 01 Nov 15:43
https://lemm.ee/post/46323997

#science

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TheButtonJustSpins@infosec.pub on 01 Nov 15:58 next collapse

Two Australian mathematicians have deemed it misleading, working out that even if all the chimpanzees in the world were given the entire lifespan of the universe, they would “almost certainly” never pen the works of the bard.

all the chimpanzees in the world

infinite monkeys

I’m glad they had fun doing some math, but this is not news, nor is the original saying misleading. With an infinite number of monkeys, a smaller-yet-still-infinite number of them would produce the works of Shakespeare. The reason this saying works is because of the concept of infinity, not some random finite number.

toast@retrolemmy.com on 01 Nov 16:34 next collapse

Your argument sounds convincing, but given an infinite number of monkeys I could refute it

pumpkinseedoil@mander.xyz on 01 Nov 16:37 collapse

You can write down an infinite amount of numbers without ever leaving [0, 1]

otp@sh.itjust.works on 02 Nov 04:51 collapse

No they couldn’t. They’d die before they finished.

kitnaht@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 16:04 next collapse

We already had a monkey write Shakespeare. His name was William Shakespeare.

acockworkorange@mander.xyz on 01 Nov 19:45 collapse

An ape *

Pothetato@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 21:02 collapse

All apes are monkeys but not all monkeys are apes. Perchance.

acockworkorange@mander.xyz on 01 Nov 21:16 collapse

Really? Til.

Pothetato@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 23:27 collapse

Something like that. I almost thought I got it backwards. A thread if you’re interested (I don’t think you’re a snob for offering a correction though)

acockworkorange@mander.xyz on 02 Nov 10:47 collapse

I’ve been called worse. Thanks for the link!

Edit: oh boy, lots of scientifically ruffled feathers there! I’ll make some popcorn.

MummifiedClient5000@feddit.dk on 01 Nov 16:25 next collapse

Kind of selfish of that monkey really.

emuspawn@orbiting.observer on 01 Nov 23:25 collapse

Universe would die before monkey with keyboard writes Shakespeare, study finds

Maybe the monkey can be a little less of a dick, for science?!

MummifiedClient5000@feddit.dk on 02 Nov 09:03 collapse

It could make a decent blockbuster though, hear me out:

Trailervoiceguy: In a world on the brink of annihilation, one monkey holds the key to survival.

Typewriter clicketyclacks and monkey ooh-ooh-aahs

Editor (played by award-winning method actor Daniel Day-Lewis): This a garbage, monkey, we can’t publish this! Earth is doomed!

*More clicketyclacks *

Trailervoiceguy: This summer, the question is…

Trailer horns

Trailervoiceguy: To be…

Louder trailer horns

Trailervoiceguy: … or not…

Very loud trailer horns

Trailervoiceguy: TO MONKEY!

Silence, then slowmotion monkey noises somehow

GetOffMyLan@programming.dev on 01 Nov 16:25 next collapse

If you actually had infinite monkeys it would be the first thing a very large (infinite) amount would type.

ohwhatfollyisman@lemmy.world on 01 Nov 17:25 next collapse

i think that milestone has already been achieved – at least in terms of the expected quality of the final manuscript.

have you read the da vinci code?

Etterra@lemmy.world on 02 Nov 06:11 next collapse

What part of “infinite” was unclear in the instructions?

Ookami38@sh.itjust.works on 02 Nov 10:22 collapse

The “in” part apparently.

Taleya@aussie.zone on 02 Nov 12:02 collapse

  • we are primates

  • one already wrote shakespeare

I call false on the findings