this post was submitted on 31 Oct 2024
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Typing monkey would be unable to produce 'Hamlet' within the lifetime of the universe, study finds (phys.org)
submitted 2 weeks ago by VantaBrandon@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world
198 comments fedilink hide all child comments
 

The question that everyone has been dying to know has been answered. Finally! What will scientists study next?

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[–] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 16 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (4 children)

the paper used the entire population (200 thousand) and would take some 10 ^ 10 ^ 7 heat deaths of the universe

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 42 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

It could happen the very first time a monkey sat down at a typewriter. It's just very unlikely.

[–] adarza@lemmy.ca 16 points 2 weeks ago (5 children)

from the wiki article
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem

If there were as many monkeys as there are atoms in the observable universe typing extremely fast for trillions of times the life of the universe, the probability of the monkeys replicating even a single page of Shakespeare is unfathomably small.

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 36 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

... the probability of the monkeys replicating even a single page of Shakespeare is unfathomably small.

But not zero.

[–] CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

Basically nothing is ever truly zero

[–] nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 23 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Someone wiser than me already said that it already has happened: 1 ape did, in fact, write the complete works of Shakespeare.

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 5 points 2 weeks ago (3 children)

ape != monkey

[–] nightwatch_admin@feddit.nl 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Fair enough. I wouldn’t want to insult the Librarian.

[–] CommanderCloon@lemmy.ml 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Apes are monkeys though, just like we're apes and birds are dinosaurs

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

We are apes and birds are dinosaurs, but monkeys and apes are distinct categories under primates so no, apes are not monkeys.

[–] Klear@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

apes ⊂ monkeys, actually.

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 3 points 2 weeks ago

monkey c monkey do

[–] Nougat@fedia.io 1 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

I am.

[–] CeeBee_Eh@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

Hello "Zero"!

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

The probability of lots of things is zero. The probability of a monkey typing a Chinese character on an English keyboard is zero.

Similar idea: there are an infinite amount of numbers between zero and one, but none of those numbers is two.

[–] Ookami38@sh.itjust.works 10 points 2 weeks ago

Weird how neither of those numbers are infinities. Almost like the numbers used are unfathomably small in comparison.

[–] scarabic@lemmy.world 4 points 2 weeks ago

So you’re telling me… there’s a chance!

Sorry, I’m sort of lampooning comments like the one above and below you where people just can’t resist focusing on the possibility, no matter how ridiculously remote it seems. For myself, there’s a point of “functionally zero odds” that I’m willing to accept and move on with my life.

[–] Rivalarrival@lemmy.today 3 points 2 weeks ago

so you're saying there's a chance...

[–] ColeSloth@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 2 weeks ago

So you're saying there's a chance.

[–] rimu@piefed.social 7 points 2 weeks ago (2 children)

ok so the monkeys need to type faster

[–] 0x0@programming.dev 3 points 2 weeks ago

Let's put them in open spaces in offices and micro-mananage then, that'll work.

[–] gravitas_deficiency@sh.itjust.works 6 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

Irrelevant. The heat death of the universe is a constraint unrelated to the premise of the original problem.

[–] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago) (1 children)

I don't think it's a constraint, it's more like a measuring stick to try to show how ridiculously long that time is

[–] Cryophilia@lemmy.world 1 points 2 weeks ago

It's really not that long, if we can't get monkeys to write Shakespeare.

[–] AmidFuror@fedia.io 3 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

We could breed monkeys to much higher populations.

[–] lvxferre@mander.xyz 2 points 2 weeks ago (1 children)

If we're considering even chimps "monkeys", there's already eight billion of them, I think that's enough.

[–] eager_eagle@lemmy.world 2 points 2 weeks ago

enough to cut a few zeros of a number with 10 million of them