Monkey, typewriter, Bible...

Page 2 - Seeking answers? Join the AnandTech community: where nearly half-a-million members share solutions and discuss the latest tech.

jyrixx

Senior member
May 31, 2000
345
0
0
we're talking an infinite amount of time... given the monkey does this for that time frame of eternity. laksdjflkasdjlkasdgkalsdhgklasdgklasdjflksadjfklsdafjlk sgjklas dgjaklsg aslkgj aslkgj asdlkgj sadlgkjsd glkjasdgklsadjgklasdjgasdlkgj sadklgj slkgj sdlkgjaslkgjsalkdfhsadlxznmv,ncxl,zv wkejutwoietuasiofj sgklj zxblknzxmb,nskl;fjak wegj asogiusiogjkalsghsklxl vj xzlkvj sdkopaweklf jqlkfsadj fklsdghklsg slkfj alskdjf aslkdgjsadkgj salkgj opqiofu askldfjas'gjasdglk;a jsgklsj flkasjf'as fdkj;as df'asfj alskg ashglsg saklghsghslkf sf' sjfl;kj sdgl vnzx vj xvj wsdjfowpuiqw fjas[f[sdgkj sakghskl vzxlvj hgkkbhj nsknslfn,zxcv'jskldafjwpgsaklgj sadglkhsdf lknxmvlnslka;j fsdklgj sadlkg jslg;jklxvjzopoqiruasls[gfaksdgjkasflq[ksldajgslakdgj slkfj slkdfj sdlkfj asdlfk;j aslkjsalkdfj aslkdg js;ahglk;as fjsdaofpweiutiwyetioyasdgysiog osiag osayg asgdkjalsk nxczmvzxn,,l;sd'g asg sd ok, that was only about 15 seconds worth of jibberish... given INFINITE amount of time.. key word here people.. he will eventually type out the bible, or any other peice of literature. (given he doesn't get bored, doesn't break the typewriter, doesn't run out of ink, paper, ect, doesn't get tired, doesn't break a finger. given he sits there and types for eternity on a non breakable typewriter, he will eventually type out literature
 

jhu

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
11,918
9
81
Roll time back to just before each newborn was conceived. Then, let the parents try again.

Will the outcome be the same as in the original instance?


yes because each molecule, each atom goes back to its original state.
 

UG

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
4,370
0
0
jhu;

I take your point, but even if the intitial conditions are identical, will the results always be the same?

If we were to roll back time to 300,000 years after the Big Bang, to the moment just before photons and electrons decoupled, then let the universe re-evolve, would our solar system be the same as we know it today?

If we repeatedly roll back time to just before conception in a Ground Hog Day movie-like fashion, would the results always be the same? Would such a repeating system be immune to entropy's effects? Or the quantum effects alluded to by Heisenberg Uncertainty?
 

kranky

Elite Member
Oct 9, 1999
21,019
156
106
""We've all heard that a million monkeys banging on a million typewriters will eventually reproduce the complete works of Shakespeare; now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true." - Robert Wilensky, U of California
 

Capn

Platinum Member
Jun 27, 2000
2,716
0
0
Actually, thinking about this. Does a standard issue monkey have the dexterity to type one key on a keyboard at a time, as well as shift and all the other things he'd have to do. Probably not, but I haven't met many monkeys in my day. I think he'd just bang on the thing until it was feeding time, then he'd break the typewriter or start throwing his feces at it maybe.
 

Wangel

Banned
Mar 30, 2000
1,491
0
0
We need to analyze this problem. Lets assume one monkey on one typewriter. He could probably fill up one page in about 5 or 6 minutes. That is about 10 pages per hour, times 8 hour in a day, means 80 pages per day. Lets put the monkey on a 6 day work week and this comes to 480 pages a week. Times 52 weeks in a year, that would be 24,960 pages per year. A monkey can live to be about 30 years old which would then be about 748,800 pages of paper. Being that there is 500 sheets of paper in a reem, which costs about $5, this would be about 1500 reems of paper at a cost of about $7,500. Not to mention the cost of ribbons, monkey food, and other supplies.

Hope this clears this up.
 

jhu

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
11,918
9
81
ug,

i'd be right if quantum effects are predicable. you'd be right if quantum effects really are unpredictable. either way, i don't think we'd notice a difference on the macroscopic scale.
 

~zonker~

Golden Member
Jan 23, 2000
1,493
0
0
Judging by the prose produced by the millions of humans on bulliten boards like this since the internet was brought public, I would say that if 200 Million people can not produce a dozen pages of profound literature in 12 years the odds of a single monkey producing the bible are remote at the very least...
 

aUt0eXebat

Banned
Oct 9, 2000
2,353
0
0
your really an idiot you know that? when your in Hell burning in the bottemless puts you will wish you would not of made stupid decsions such as defying God.
 

Soybomb

Diamond Member
Jun 30, 2000
9,506
2
81


<< your really an idiot you know that? when your in Hell burning in the bottemless puts you will wish you would not of made stupid decsions such as... >>



Whoa there champ, not everyone shares the same beliefs as you, you know? :)