If the multiverse theory says there are an infinite number....

[Cerpin Taxt]

How?

Because reality is continuous. Continuums are infinitely segmentable. Consider the continuum of real numbers greater than zero but less than one. There are infinitely many, but likewise there are infinitely many real numbers between 1 and 2, and infinitely many real numbers between 2 and 3, etc...

"Infinite" is not the same as saying "unconstrained" or "unlimited." In this context, there may be an infinite number of probable realities in which the OP exists, but it does not follow that every conceivable reality is among that infinite set.

 

[PingSpike]

I think we can all confidently say that even with infinite odds, there is no universe in which you are rich and dating super models. Such an event would have caused an absurdity tear in space/time and destroyed us all. The fact that we are still here proves this has not happened.

 

[bfdd]

It went to hell when scifi took it over.

And that poster is awful... ugh

agreed, started off pretty good then went to crap. i liked it when i was younger.

to the op, it still wouldn't be YOU though. you are you, that would be like a different person who is like you.

 

[Malak]

How?

The philosophy many people take is that if there is an infinite number of chances of something happening, it will happen. This is incorrect though. There are always just as many chances it won't as will, so there is the possibility it will never happen. The idea that an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters would at some point, during eternity, write a play from Shakespeare by chance. That is absurd and would never happen.

 

[DrPizza]

The philosophy many people take is that if there is an infinite number of chances of something happening, it will happen. This is incorrect though. There are always just as many chances it won't as will, so there is the possibility it will never happen. The idea that an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters would at some point, during eternity, write a play from Shakespeare by chance. That is absurd and would never happen.

Under the assumption that the monkeys were randomly hitting keys and all of the keys had a non-zero probability, then yes, Shakespeare's works would eventually be typed. You wouldn't need an infinite number of monkeys either; it could be a finite number, provided you were magically able to not run out of ink (or hard drive space), and that the monkeys magically would live forever, or at least until Shakespeare's works appeared.

And, if there are an infinite number of chances for something to happen that has a non-zero probability of happening, then of course it will happen. If the probability of something happening were 1 in 10^50, then (provided we could make the universe magically stick around for that long) it would happen eventually. And, we could figure out a probability for it to happen in a certain number of years within various confidence intervals.

 

[Analog]

ask spock:

 

[Matthiasa]

The philosophy many people take is that if there is an infinite number of chances of something happening, it will happen. This is incorrect though. There are always just as many chances it won't as will, so there is the possibility it will never happen. The idea that an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters would at some point, during eternity, write a play from Shakespeare by chance. That is absurd and would never happen.

Well the probability of typing random junk of that length is same as typing Shakespeare assuming the key presses were infant random. Still the odds for each thing are something like really low close to zero but it is a non zero chance.
Ill see if my calculator can figure it out.... so will know shortly

EDIT:I'm to lazy to find how many letters/characters long one of his plays are.

 

[Malak]

Under the assumption that the monkeys were randomly hitting keys and all of the keys had a non-zero probability, then yes, Shakespeare's works would eventually be typed. You wouldn't need an infinite number of monkeys either; it could be a finite number, provided you were magically able to not run out of ink (or hard drive space), and that the monkeys magically would live forever, or at least until Shakespeare's works appeared.

And, if there are an infinite number of chances for something to happen that has a non-zero probability of happening, then of course it will happen. If the probability of something happening were 1 in 10^50, then (provided we could make the universe magically stick around for that long) it would happen eventually. And, we could figure out a probability for it to happen in a certain number of years within various confidence intervals.

Probability is not the same as certainty. If it is possible for it to never happen, then you can't say it will happen. You can speculate and come up with probability numbers all you want, but that doesn't make it certain.

 

[Malak]

Well the probability of typing random junk of that length is same as typing Shakespeare assuming the key presses were infant random. Still the odds for each thing are something like really low close to zero but it is a non zero chance.
Ill see if my calculator can figure it out.... so will know shortly

I'm not saying it's a zero chance, I'm saying it's not 100% chance.

 

[Matthiasa]

I'm not saying it's a zero chance, I'm saying it's not 100% chance.

Given infinite time it becomes 100%.

 

[Malak]

Given infinite time it becomes 100%.

No it doesn't. Anything that has a chance of not happening, always has a chance of not happening.

 

[Matthiasa]

Umm no just no... (In this given case)
Lets say you are having them write something say 10000 words long, with the average word being7 characters long. Also assume that all letters and numbers are used with no punctuation. The probability of of writing any possible combination is 1/(7*10000)^(10+26*2). Is it a low chance yeah, but it is there and given that it is still there with enough time it will be done.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

No it doesn't. Anything that has a chance of not happening, always has a chance of not happening.

At any finite time interval, this is true. With infinite time, all non-zero probabilities are 1.

What I mean is, at any particular point, the probability of rolling a six on a six-sided die is 1/6. If you roll the die 10 times, each time the probability is 1/6, and the probability of obtaining a 6 among those 10 rolls is (1/6) + (1/6)^2 + (1/6)^3 ... + (1/6)^10. Clearly the probability approaches 1 like a geometric series. Given infinite time, the result is 1.

 

[DrPizza]

No it doesn't. Anything that has a chance of not happening, always has a chance of not happening.

Math. A subject you're not very good at. That's okay, most people have a tough time grasping the concept of infinity. I'm going to guess that you're one of the people who doesn't believe that .999... = 1

 

[Malak]

Math. A subject you're not very good at. That's okay, most people have a tough time grasping the concept of infinity.

Your right, most people do. Infinity doesn't remove chance.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Your right, most people do. Infinity doesn't remove chance.

You are wrong. Get over it.

 

[DrPizza]

Your right, most people do. Infinity doesn't remove chance.

Grammar. Another subject you're not good at.

 

[Malak]

Grammar. Another subject you're not good at.

Grammar is the first thing to go when distracted with company and already very woozy. If I had a movie going, I would be just as confused as you at what I would be typing.

 

[Exterous]

Your right

My eyes - THEY BLEED!

 

[Exterous]

Grammar is the first thing to go when distracted with company and already very woozy. If I had a movie going, I would be just as confused as you at what I would be typing.

But....the children!!! Why, oh why, won't you think of the children when using the various forms of 'your' or 'their' or 'which' for that matter??!!

 

[Malak]

But....the children!!! Why, oh why, won't you think of the children when using the various forms of 'your' or 'their' or 'which' for that matter??!!

I would of but I was distracted and low on blood!

 

[Mr. Pedantic]

Because reality is continuous. Continuums are infinitely segmentable. Consider the continuum of real numbers greater than zero but less than one. There are infinitely many, but likewise there are infinitely many real numbers between 1 and 2, and infinitely many real numbers between 2 and 3, etc...

"Infinite" is not the same as saying "unconstrained" or "unlimited." In this context, there may be an infinite number of probable realities in which the OP exists, but it does not follow that every conceivable reality is among that infinite set.

Infinity is a concept, not a number. Going with your analogy, if you wrote down an infinite number of distinct real numbers, yes, there are an infinite number of real numbers between 1 and 2. However, if you truly wrote down an infinite number of distinct real numbers, no matter the range, you would list them all.

The philosophy many people take is that if there is an infinite number of chances of something happening, it will happen. This is incorrect though. There are always just as many chances it won't as will, so there is the possibility it will never happen. The idea that an infinite number of monkeys on an infinite number of typewriters would at some point, during eternity, write a play from Shakespeare by chance. That is absurd and would never happen.

Let's say the odds of something happening are 0.5. Therefore the chance of it not happening are 0.5 also. If we have two universes, each with the same starting point and diverging at the relevant point, then the chance of the event not happening in either universe is 0.25. Yes? If you have 3 universes, the chances will be 0.125. 4, 0.0625. And so on. You're right, it never gets to 0. Not with any number I can put into a calculator. Not with any number of which I can conceive. But infinity is not a number.

 

[Cerpin Taxt]

Infinity is a concept, not a number.

Infinity is a characteristic of infinite numbers, as distinct from finite numbers and transfinite numbers.

Going with your analogy, if you wrote down an infinite number of distinct real numbers, yes, there are an infinite number of real numbers between 1 and 2. However, if you truly wrote down an infinite number of distinct real numbers, no matter the range, you would list them all.

This has nothing to do with the writing of lists, and I will ask you to kindly refrain from introducing distractions.

Let's say the odds of something happening are 0.5. Therefore the chance of it not happening are 0.5 also. If we have two universes, each with the same starting point and diverging at the relevant point, then the chance of the event not happening in either universe is 0.25. Yes? If you have 3 universes, the chances will be 0.125. 4, 0.0625. And so on. You're right, it never gets to 0.

It is zero when the number of universes is infinite.

Not with any number I can put into a calculator.

So?

Not with any number of which I can conceive.

Your own shortcomings are not refutations.

But infinity is not a number.

Infinity is a characteristic of infinite numbers.

 

[LordMorpheus]

You should read "Anathem" by Neal Stephenson. It might give you some hints on this.

 

[JTsyo]

What you should do is look at the reverse probability. What's the probability of infinite monkeys with infinite time NOT producing the works of Shakespeare?

Take this example where I had to work with a 3 letter piece to get excel to handle it

Chance of a monkey getting 3 letter work: 1/3^26

10 monkeys not getting it right: (1-(1/3^26))^10 = .997
100 monkeys not getting it right: (1-(1/3^26))^100 =.973
1000 monkeys not getting it right: (1-(1/3^26))^1000 =.759
10000 monkeys not getting it right: (1-(1/3^26))^10000 =.063

So with 10 moneys, there's a 99.7% chance that you don't get the right 3 letters. But if you up the monkeys to 10000 it's only a 6% that you don't get the right answer. This is for just one go, not even infinite time. If you scale all the numbers up, you get the same trend.