Technology

Typewriting ‘Monkeys’ Actually Complete a Shakespeare Work

Two words you wouldn’t expect having anything to do with a monkey: typewriting and Shakespeare. But au contraire: when the monkey’s are virtual, anything is possible.

That, and there is a theorem — the infinite monkey theorem — which states that an infinite number of monkeys typing randomly will be able to produce the complete works of Shakespeare. One blogger, Jesse Anderson, says his millions of “monkeys,” small computers using Amazon’s EC2 cloud computing program,  are on their way. Most recently, they completed “A Lover’s Complaint,” making it the first Shakespearean work ever randomly reproduced. According to his blog, the monkeys will keep at it till all works are created.

Watch as Anderson explains the project:

The monkeys are programed to churn out sequences using nine characters. If the nine characters create a word that was found in one of Shakespeare’s, it is “checked off the list.” The Daily Telegraph has more:

The monkeys, which started typing on August 21, have already completed more than five trillion of the 5.5 trillion possible nine-letter combinations, but have so far only finished one whole work.

But the experiment is an imperfect reproduction of the infinite monkey theorem because it saves correct sections of text while discarding future wrong guesses, experts said.

Dr Ian Steward, emeritus professor of mathematics at Warwick University, said that for the monkeys to type up the complete works in the correct order without mistakes would take much longer than the age of the universe.

He told the BBC: “Along the way there would be untold numbers of attempts with one character wrong; even more with two wrong, and so on.

“Almost all other books, being shorter, would appear (countless times) before Shakespeare did.”

Anderson’s inspiration for starting this project in the first place? This clip from “The Simpsons:”

Anderson writes on his blog that he realizes there are different interpretations of the theorem and that he doesn’t have infinite resources. He also notes that no real monkeys were harmed during this challenge.

Believe it or not, a study in 2003 actually used six Sulawesi Crested Macaques, a type of black ape, to test out this theory. Before the trial was ended a month later, the apes had typed five pages, none of which held a single English word.

Infinite Monkey Theorem Actually Completing Some Shakespearean Works

Sulawesi Crested Macaques were used in an actual test of the infinite monkey theorem in 2003.

[H/T Gawker]

A correction has been made to this story.

Comments (98)

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  • Vapor Trail
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:40pm

    We have 535 monkeys and one jackass running the government…..perhaps these virtual million monkeys could replace them? Can’t possibly see how they could do any worse.

    Report Post » Vapor Trail  
  • DanWesson455
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:30pm

    Did Michele O’Bambam sneak in there? I Could have sworn…..hmmmm??

    DanWesson455  
  • Firebrand
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:27pm

    Of course there were no English words. The apes speak Sulawesi.

    Report Post » Firebrand  
  • One Man Progressive Wrecking Crew
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:21pm

    Wonder how that makes the students of CPS – P109 or NYC SD 210 and the thousands of other illiterates in the US Urban public school systems? I know how it SHOULD make them feel, but probably doesn‘t since they’ve all been conditioned to blame whitey for all their failures and missed or outright blown opportunities over the past 20 years or so since I finished college @UVA in ‘88 it seems. :(

    Report Post » One Man Progressive Wrecking Crew  
  • feret
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:17pm

    If my memory serves me correctly, chimpanzees were given plastic covered keyboards and protected computer monitors. The result: The computers were defecated on, urinated on, jumped on, and thrown about. However, some numeric and alphabetic keys hit (and I do mean HIT). But they were smart enough not to remove the “W” key from the keyboard.

     
    • KickinBack
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:20pm

      Hence, horrible villain, or I’ll spurn thine eyes like balls before me; I’ll unhair thy head, Thou shalt be whipp’d with wire, and stew‘d’in brine, smarting in lingering pickle.

      -Antony & Cleopatra

      Report Post » KickinBack  
    • NuffSaid
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:54pm

      I think you’re mistaken about the chimpanzees. The incident you describe occurred in the Atlanta Public Schools, one day, while the Atlanta Public School Teachers were in the lounge, correcting the the answers on the student’s standardized tests.

      On the other hand, today, the students of these noble Atlanta Public Schools System teachers, the children of Atlanta parents, are fully qualified to be chimpanzees. Notable companies cancelled plans to locate in Atlanta, because the inferior quality of education had produced a population of potential employees who were so dim that a monkey would be more likely to find a W on a keyboard than an Atlanta Public High School Senior.

      The Atlanta Public School District Superintendent was given an award for her accomplishments in improving the test scores for the Atlanta Public School system children. The award was must have been given to the African-American Superintendent by “Eraser-Head,” who shares the same hyphenated affliction.

      Report Post »  
  • alina.bolero
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:14pm

    So, if we supply prejudice to the selection of words, when a dictionary recognizes them, we don’t have to wait in infinite amount of time to create the solution we want from randomness.

    If I want a quarter to show heads, and I flip it enough times, I‘m pretty darn sure I’ll eventually get heads.

    Why is this story even remotely interesting as anything other than an example of a computer geek that could think of nothing more productive to do with access to a cluster of servers (“Cloud” for you marketing types)? (MAJOR eye roll on this one)

    Report Post » alina.bolero  
    • One Man Progressive Wrecking Crew
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:24pm

      I was saying the same thing when I read this elsewhere yesterday. These people wasted how much energy both intellectually and literally on this ignorant study? They DID prove that monkeys can indeed be as smart as 70% of the kids being churned out of our public schools today since they‘re taught some of this stuff and couldn’t replicate it. ;)

      Report Post » One Man Progressive Wrecking Crew  
    • alina.bolero
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:27pm

      I know infinite probability is awfully hard to grasp, but when you start multiplying infinite improbabilities, things really do become that more improbable.

      While I get the feeling that the intent of this experiment was to show that complex order can come from chaos, if you wait long enough, it has actually done a much better job of showing that the best way to create order from randomness is to apply intelligence to the system in order to create the desired outcome.

      Report Post » alina.bolero  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:32pm

      Alina, I could not have said it better. Well done.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • encinom
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 3:08pm

      And again the UVA grad proves that you don’t need intelligence to graduate a Southern “University.”

      Report Post »  
    • HD Veteran
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 3:42pm

      I am sure there is a ‘Creation vs Evolution’ undertow in this story if successful

      Comparing monkeys to computer programming built for a specific use is a stretch as best, but millions of Americans will believe it.

      Report Post » HD Veteran  
    • FEMALL
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 3:52pm

      @encinom Obviously. UVA, the alma mater of Janet Napolitano.

      Report Post » FEMALL  
  • Weiners Wiener
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:10pm

    This is how Obamacare and the Stimulus were written.

    Report Post »  
  • One of the Quiet Ones
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:04pm

    I don’t think anyone has ever reproduced the complete works of Shakespeare without error in one pass including Shakespeare. Put on top of that randomly generating it. It is very unlikely.

    Report Post »  
    • KickinBack
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:17pm

      Shakespeare created his own words to fit his style, and different publishers will print different spellings as well.

      Report Post » KickinBack  
    • encinom
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 3:11pm

      That is the point, 1mm Monkeys and 1mm typewriters over and infinite period of time, the odds become meaningless as every probability will play out.

      Report Post »  
  • Whyismynamealwaystaken
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:00pm

    What a complete waste of time. Hey more power to you, but guess what. God is not going away, ever….

    Report Post » Whyismynamealwaystaken  
  • GhostOfJefferson
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:55pm

    Anybody who thinks that a million monkeys can type up Shakespeare need only log onto Facebook and browse around to find that this assumption is false.

    Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
    • cantstandlibs
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 3:25pm

      Genius! You are the top of the food chain! :) It is almost scary to see the idiocy many people post, all in the freedom of anonymity.

      Report Post »  
    • Macedon
      Posted on September 28, 2011 at 6:01am

      If Shakespeare wrote, “Roast beef in the crockpot tonight! Yum!”, you are wrong, sir.

      Report Post » Macedon  
  • BubbaCoop
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:53pm

    “checked off the list”?
    So they don’t even have to type two consecutive words in the correct order!

    If anything, this should just prove the absurd impossibility of evolutionary theory.

    Report Post »  
  • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:52pm

    Once again the uttermpst limits of the ridiculous have been reached and exceeded.

    Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
  • elosogrande
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:52pm

    An infinite number of monkeys? How can you have an infinite amount when the number can just keep growing? There is no way to define the infinite amount of anything, unless your at least as smart as these guys.

    Who’s paying these idiots for ******* away their lives on this crap? Something tells me that I am. Good God!

    Report Post »  
    • theninthplanet
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:04pm

      The monkeys on a typewriter are an analogy for more complicated things, like thermodynamics and quantum physics. It’s easier for people to grasp “monkeys typing” than atoms vibrating…

      Report Post » theninthplanet  
    • 82dAirborne
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:18pm

      “Infinite” is the definition.

      Report Post » 82dAirborne  
  • ChiefGeorge
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:51pm

    In others words its rigged for the monkeys to succeed just like elements withon our own educational system. Also rigged just like our upcoming 2012 presidential election.

    Report Post » ChiefGeorge  
    • yiska8
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 4:10pm

      The two words that will hit googled most in the 6 months leading up to 2012. Obama + rigged!

      Report Post » yiska8  
  • blazingaway
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:48pm

    “F”ing idiot is only demonstrating the he is closer to a monkey than a human or anything more. If he focused his time on knowing God he would know what a dumb ass he has become

    Report Post » blazingaway  
  • wordweaver
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:47pm

    Well, I guess that settles it. Now I can believe in evolution without a creator. Sheesh!

    Report Post » wordweaver  
  • sizzlinsexybeckster
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:45pm

    Leave the monkeys alone and send them back to the forest.

    Wow, I guess I could have used this comment also for Obama calling his audience “cry babies.”

    Report Post »  
  • fiberdrunk
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:44pm

    This theorem is an insult to individual achievement. Neither monkeys nor a random character generator can breathe the same heart and life into a work and give it the structure that Shakespeare did; and quite frankly, I think it’s an insult to his work and memory.

    Report Post » fiberdrunk  
    • ProbIemSoIver
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:56pm

      And I was proud of the CBC when I heard this. I thought they actually had completed something semi-productive, for the first time in their lives !!!!

      Report Post » ProbIemSoIver  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:57pm

      Assuming he actually wrote most of the things attributed to him of course.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
  • jakartaman
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:41pm

    Absolute absurdity!
    I use to be a code writer – you want a computer result – i’ll give it to you

    Report Post »  
  • Johnny916
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:40pm

    In other news PETA protested the barbaric treatment of monkeys being forced to write the works of Shakespeare.

    Report Post »  
  • Islesfordian
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:36pm

    This is NOT the monkeys at a typewriter theorm. THAT required pure randomness. THIS has a program assiting the random elements. It is DESIGNED to produce Shakespeare gradually, the exact opposite of what the theorem seeks to demonstrate: that no design is necessary to produce life.

    Report Post » Islesfordian  
  • I.Gaspar
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:34pm

    It’s been done before…The Audacity of Hope….

    Report Post »  
  • thegreatcarnac
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:30pm

    ……and what ghetto school was this at..??????????

    Report Post »  
    • scuba13
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:38pm

      The backroom of Nacey Pelosi office on capitol hill.

      Report Post » scuba13  
    • GhostOfJefferson
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:23pm

      That’s a very base thing to stoop to, you know. We have to hold ourselves to a higher standard and guide others out of the impending night with light and good hearts.

      Report Post » GhostOfJefferson  
  • Dustyluv
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:29pm

    I am so glad my TAXPAYER money is going to thius crap! I wanna scream!! $@%$#^%

    You sir are as worthless as a room full of monkey @hit!

    Report Post »  
    • scuba13
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:34pm

      Hey aren’t these the same monkeys that wrote the obamacare bill?

      Report Post » scuba13  
    • Uncle Tom
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 2:16pm

      What is with you people! Here is a little FYI for you: your tax dollars do not pay for every stupid thing on the planet. This guy is a blogger, using cloud services from Amazon. It has nothing to do with taxes. This is just a guy spending his free time on something. You sir, are an idiot.

      Report Post » Uncle Tom  
    • Dustyluv
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 3:18pm

      He is a PROFESSOR…You are the IDIOT! You must be a professor yourself.

      Report Post »  
  • MSG
    Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:25pm

    **Flashback** http://governor.state.tx.us/news/speech/5156/

    In my opinion, this letter went far beyond his gubernatorial duties… he is actually “gushin” all over this man. His words cross the line of acting respectful, His words were of worship and praising.

    Report Post »  
    • vennoye
      Posted on September 27, 2011 at 1:41pm

      WELL, I imagine that Rick Perry, just like the rest of us, has learned a lot since April 12, 2008!!! Don’t you?????????????

      Report Post » vennoye  
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