…The theory is flawed. After one month – admittedly not an “infinite” amount of time – the monkeys had partially destroyed the machine, used it as a lavatory, and mostly typed the letter “s”.
NOTE: On a related subject, my own blogging may be light due to similar issues.
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Bob Newhart had a short monologue once about the infinite monkeys hypothetical, with Newhart playing the role of one of the many workers assigned to see what the monkeys were producing. After a few comments to the effect that he didn’t think some of the monkeys would ever produce anything, he apparently struck paydirt: “Hey, get over here–I think this is famous or something!”
[pauses, then begins to read]
“To be, or not to be–that is the gzortnplatt.”
[Audience laughs, routine ends]
What fascinates me about the “million monkeys” thing is that I really think that in the original formulation, the word “million” is used loosely to mean “an unimaginably and absurdly high number.” I think if it was “an infinite number of monkeys,” no one would bother arguing with it, y’know? I never thought the phrase literally meant 1,000,000,000 monkeys precisely.
That said, the exercise is still worth doing. ;-)
I wonder if the phrasing is regional? I’ve lived in Northern California all my life, and I’ve always remembered it as “If an infinite number of monkeys sat at an infinite number of typewriters . . .” I don’t think I ever heard it using “a million monkeys.”
Or perhaps it’s generational? I’m not sure of your age, but I just turned 40 this year. God help me.
It’s infinite monkeys. And if you have any real understanding of infinity, it’s self-evidently true. The proof is mathematical, not experimental. Any attempt to “prove” it experimentally is doomed to failure, unless your budget is infinite dollars, your number of subjects is infinite monkeys, and the length of your study is infinite days. The University of Plymouth blew 2,000 pounds. All that they really learned is that MediaLab Arts students, the Arts Council, and the zoo’s scientific officer need to learn more math.
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