5.11.2003

Monkeys fall short of Shakespearian Prose

If you give an infinate number of monkeys an infinate amount of typewriters and enough time, then they will eventually reproduce the complete works of Shakespeare. Thomas Huxley, a 19th-century scientist, is usually credited with coming up with this illustration of chance and probability. (Note: in mathematics, most anything can be "possible" with the inclusion of a few infinities...)

Some researchers in Britan left six monkeys alone with a computer for a month. The net result? No Shakespeare.

"They pressed a lot of S's," reports one researcher. "Another thing they were interested in was in defecating and urinating all over the keyboard."

Perhaps with the aid of flash-baking and a cure for death these monkeys might get a little closer? Or perhaps the monkeys will just figure out how to hang the mouse and keyboard from the rafters for a makeshift jungle-gym...

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