Monkeys will never have the capacity to write the complete works of William Shakespeare, a study has found. This challenges the long-held theory of probability that, given an infinite period of time, monkeys pressing keys at random on a typewriter would eventually be able to reproduce the famous texts. Researchers from the University of Technology Sydney in Australia considered the abilities of a single chimpanzee using a keyboard, pressing one key per second every second of the day, its 30-year lifespan, and the species’ current population of about 200,000.
The peer-reviewed study utilized the heat death theory as the measurement for the timespan of our universe, which states all matter will cool and decay as it no longer creates energy over trillions of years. While it found there would be a 5% chance a single chimpanzee would successfully type the word “bananas” in its own lifetime, the likelihood of it writing a random sentence such as “I chimp, therefore I am” was one in 10 million billion billion. The study concluded that monkey labor would never be a viable tool for developing non-trivial written works, even with improved typing speeds or an increase in chimpanzee populations.
The researchers, Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta, suggested that the popular theory known as the infinite monkeys theorem was misleading within our finite universe. Given Shakespeare’s extensive body of work totalling some 884,000 words, the study found it implausible for monkeys to produce such substantial creative works. Mr. Woodcock highlighted the vast improbability of monkeys ever creating even a short book like Curious George before the end of the universe.
In the words of the study, “Shakespeare himself inadvertently provided the answer as to whether monkey labor could meaningfully be a replacement for human endeavor as a source of scholarship or creativity. To quote Hamlet, act three, scene three, line 87: ‘No’.” The study challenges the notion of infinite possibilities within a finite universe, debunking the idea that monkeys could eventually replicate complex literary masterpieces.
In summary, the recent study from the University of Technology Sydney dispels the myth that given enough time, monkeys could recreate Shakespeare’s works. By applying scientific principles and probability calculations, the researchers demonstrate the immense improbability of such an event occurring. This research sheds light on the limitations of theoretical concepts like the infinite monkeys theorem and underscores the unique creativity and skill of human literary achievement.