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Monkeys will never type Shakespeare, study finds (bbc.com)

submitted 7 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

The problem here is the implied entropic outcomes of each system.

If the monkeys were replaced with true-random number generators, then you'd eventually get shakespear. But they aren't RNG engines, and they aren't quantumly random.

Instead, the monkeys have a large-ish but very finite number of logical branches that they can take in their decision-making processes, with slight variations within a fixed genetic scope. They will slam away at the typewriters in a very specific monkey kind of way.

At the end of the thought experiment, you will end up with an infinite amount of monkey-gibberish and a slightly smaller infinite amount of soiled or destroyed typewriters.