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Monkey Business

A Monkey Publication

If you get a monkey to sit in front of the computer/typewriter and type forever, it is definite that it will produce the works of Shakespeare somewhere in that whole writing.

How true is that? That is the Infinite Monkey Theorem. In any case, it illustrates how we cannot think of infinity as a very large finite number. It is not a number, we need to think of it as a 'flow', or like a horizon - it is a concept but not something that physically exists. If you think about the monkey analogy, it is not just the lifespan of the monkey that is in concern

Years ago, a team of lecturers and students from the University of Plymouth took the idea pretty seriously and tried to see how it works out in reality. They placed a computer in the zoo with six Celebes Crested Macaques and see what they'd produce. In a month, they produced quite a huge mess and a five page document, which was actually published and sold for 25 UK Pounds.

I find the experiment pretty interesting and the result is kind of hilarious. Of course, animal behaviour was the more important segment for this 'study' but when you look at the document from the monkeys, you must seriously reconsider the idea that monkeys are potential random number generators. They obviously approach the activity of typing with some sort of intent, albeit it transcends typing - it included 'interacting' (mostly involving urinating and defecating on it) with the computer and provoking it (like attacking it with a stone).