Study claims the primates will never learn to type the simplest literary work.

A recently published study has confirmed that, even given an infinite number of monkeys and an infinite amount of time, the Infinite Monkey Theorem remains impractical in a finite real-world context.

While the theorem suggests that monkeys randomly typing on typewriters will eventually reproduce a play by William Shakespeare, a 16th century English poet and playwright, research by mathematicians Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta at the Sydney University of Technology in Australia challenges this notion.

Their calculations – shared in the Franklin Open ScienceDirect magazine – reveal that with the finite number of monkeys and time available in the universe, even the simplest literary works would be unlikely to emerge.

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The case of chimpanzees

By considering various factors - such as a range of monkey populations, keyboard sizes, and typing speeds, as well as the time it would take before the universe reaches heat death - the researchers concluded that the probability of primates reproducing Shakespeare’s complete works is astronomically small, essentially zero.

In fact, even achieving the entire 1,800 words of Curious George by Hans Augusto Rey and Margret Rey is improbable within the universe's remaining lifespan.

A single chimpanzee typing on a 30-key keyboard has a 5% chance of coming out with the word "bananas" within its own lifetime. The reproduction of the entire 884,647-word works of Shakespeare from 200,000 chimps in a googol years? It just ain't happening. The probability is 6.4 x 10 at the power of -7448254... that is actually zero, the two scientists said in a ScienceAlert statement.

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The study classifies the Infinite Monkey Theorem as a paradox, similar to other well-known paradoxes that arise when infinite possibilities are applied to a finite reality. Woodcock and Falletta conclude that, even with more monkeys or faster typing speeds, random monkey labor will never produce meaningful written works.

The findings highlight the limits of randomness in producing complex works and underscore the importance of evolution in creating meaningful art.

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