While sure it's a funny joke, it also kind of misses the point of the original analogy. The monkeys are intended to be stand ins for entirely random inputs, which Shakespeare, and the human species as a whole, is not.

save

path: 0 4919038, hotness: undefined, score: 29, children: 6

delitomatoes 19 points 3 years ago

But to get Shakespeare it was random, all the wars and plagues and volcanic eruptions and his ancestors moving around the country and him being born in a time where writing plays was a viable career

save

path: 0 4919038 4923569, hotness: undefined, score: 19, children: 4

applebusch 6 points 3 years ago

Yeah but the odds are only meaningful if someone was expecting Hamlett specifically to get written in the first place. Without that it ceases to be a significant event, and reduces to merely the event that happened. Just because one arrangement of molecules is unique doesn't mean it's special if any number of other arrangements is functionally the same. The same argument applies to any person. Yeah the odds of you in particular being born are astronomical, but that doesn't make you special, because if it wasn't you it would have been someone substantially similar to you. After all, your parents were making a baby either way.

save

path: 0 4919038 4923569 4927019, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 1

Steeve 6 points 3 years ago

That's the point of the thought experiment. With enough time, all events with non zero probability will happen. The monkey that writes Hamlet isn't any less likely or more impressive than the monkey than writes a unique set of complete jibberish.

save

path: 0 4919038 4923569 4927019 4929885, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 0

echodot 0 points 3 years ago

Those won't random acts though. They were decisions and actions from outside inputs. If you had enough data you could recreate the events from the big bang onwards in theory. Assuming human decision making is deterministic.

Random in this case means random as in if a particle decays or not. Not simply harder to predict as in human behaviour.

save

path: 0 4919038 4923569 4928093, hotness: undefined, score: 0, children: 1

Dkarma -2 points 3 years ago

Yeah in what reality is the history of language "random"?

save

path: 0 4919038 4923569 4928093 4932028, hotness: undefined, score: -2, children: 0

Steeve 5 points 3 years ago

Go back far enough back and sure it was

save

path: 0 4919038 4923101, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 0

bored_boar_onboard 20 points 3 years ago

It was the best of times, it was the blurst of times.

save

path: 0 4923481, hotness: undefined, score: 20, children: 0

hanni 20 points 3 years ago

I’m an ape, damn it!

save

path: 0 4913645, hotness: undefined, score: 20, children: 1

FlyingSquid 3 points 3 years ago

Shut up and stop evolving.

save

path: 0 4913645 4929955, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0

alvvayson 16 points 3 years ago

Ok, mind is blown.

And also... I kind of think this double entendre was intended from the beginning.

save

path: 0 4913613, hotness: undefined, score: 16, children: 7

Alexstarfire 6 points 3 years ago

Can you explain it? I'm not sure I get it.

save

path: 0 4913613 4917066, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 3

alvvayson 11 points 3 years ago

There is a thought experiment that says: given enough time, a million monkeys writing on typewriters will eventually produce the works of Shakespeare.

This thought experiment is used to argue for and against a lot of things, often times in arguments surrounding evolution.

But the OP just explained that we are the evolved monkeys and we produced Shakespeare.

And this makes me think that whoever imagined the thought experiment, knew about this double meaning from the start.

save

path: 0 4913613 4917066 4917845, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 2

Lifter 2 points 3 years ago

So they basically just wanted to call Shakespeare a monkey with a typewriter.

save

path: 0 4913613 4917066 4917845 4926827, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 1

alvvayson 3 points 3 years ago

Aren't we all just monkeys with typewriters and guns?

save

path: 0 4913613 4917066 4917845 4926827 4927427, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 0

be_excellent_to_each_other 2 points 3 years ago

kind of think this double entendre was intended from the beginning.

Well I feel dumb now for not having ever thought about it.

save

path: 0 4913613 4915501, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 2

GreenMario 2 points 3 years ago

Just like the chicken cross the road thing.

To get to the otherside. (After life)

Or Miles "Tails" Prowler. Miles Prowler. Miles per hour.

save

path: 0 4913613 4915501 4916172, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0

alvvayson 2 points 3 years ago

Me too, man. Me too.

save

path: 0 4913613 4915501 4916091, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0

FlyingSquid 9 points 3 years ago

As the owner of both an infinite number of monkeys and an infinite number of typewriters, I can tell you from experience that I have not gotten one single work of Shakespeare, but I have had to clean a lot of monkey poo off the walls.

save

path: 0 4929973, hotness: undefined, score: 9, children: 4

uis 5 points 3 years ago

A lot? Lucky you, it could be infinite amount of monkey poo.

save

path: 0 4929973 4929990, hotness: undefined, score: 5, children: 3

FlyingSquid 6 points 3 years ago

To tell the truth, it is an infinite amount of poo. I just didn't want to shock the readers.

save

path: 0 4929973 4929990 4930114, hotness: undefined, score: 6, children: 2

Deuces 2 points 3 years ago

Countabley infinite monkey poo?

save

path: 0 4929973 4929990 4930114 4931842, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 1

FlyingSquid 1 point 3 years ago

If you have an infinite amount of time.

save

path: 0 4929973 4929990 4930114 4931842 4931871, hotness: undefined, score: 1, children: 0

Tb0n3 8 points 3 years ago

Somebody might have misunderstood the thought experiment.

save

path: 0 4913444, hotness: undefined, score: 8, children: 1

PetDinosaurs 11 points 3 years ago

No. I think they understood it very well.

save

path: 0 4913444 4914930, hotness: undefined, score: 11, children: 0

_TheThunderWolf_ 3 points 3 years ago

Well someone did write Hamlet but we don't actually know who. So the thought experiment holds up even better because it is a random person we don't know much about.

save

path: 0 4929638, hotness: undefined, score: 3, children: 1

Jazard23 2 points 3 years ago

We do know who wrote it, some people are just too elitist to accept it was a middle class boy from Stratford-upon-Avon

save

path: 0 4929638 4930668, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0

edgemaster72 2 points 3 years ago

Apes together strong? ✅

Apes together write good? Jury's still out.

save

path: 0 5048594, hotness: undefined, score: 2, children: 0

thanks for using Leebra!

go to feed...

thanks for using Leebra!

go to feed...