Monkey and a poet's work ?
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From: Karthik Balaguru on 7 Mar 2010 12:34 Hi, I came across the 'Infinite Monkey Theorem'. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem I wonder how can a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare ? And why was monkey chosen to convey this theorem ? How far is this theorem true ? Has any monkey proved this now :-) ?? Thx in advans, Karthik Balaguru
From: Karthik Balaguru on 7 Mar 2010 12:49 On Mar 7, 10:34 pm, Karthik Balaguru <karthikbalagur...(a)gmail.com> wrote: > Hi, > I came across the 'Infinite Monkey Theorem'.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem > > I wonder how can a monkey hitting keys at random on > a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will > almost surely type a given text, such as the complete > works of William Shakespeare ? And why was > monkey chosen to convey this theorem ? > On continuing to understand this theorem the below link shed some light over this - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem#Real_monkeys The same link also has the 'Direct proofs' and 'probabilities' sub-sections that set the things very clear. It seems that the 'the probability' is zero. Thx , Karthik Balaguru
From: pk on 7 Mar 2010 12:47 Karthik Balaguru wrote: > Hi, > I came across the 'Infinite Monkey Theorem'. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem > > I wonder how can a monkey hitting keys at random on > a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will > almost surely type a given text, such as the complete > works of William Shakespeare ? What part of "In this context, "almost surely" is a mathematical term with a precise meaning, and the "monkey" is not an actual monkey, but a metaphor for an abstract device that produces a random sequence of letters ad infinitum." and of this page http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost_surely is not clear? If that's not enough, there's a mathematical proof down the page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem#Solution > And why was monkey chosen to convey this theorem ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem#History
From: Jens Thoms Toerring on 7 Mar 2010 13:02 In comp.unix.programmer Karthik Balaguru <karthikbalaguru79(a)gmail.com> wrote: > I came across the 'Infinite Monkey Theorem'. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem > I wonder how can a monkey hitting keys at random on > a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will > almost surely type a given text, such as the complete > works of William Shakespeare ? What could be not in an infinite set? You will have not only the works of Shakespeare, but also all his works with all kinds of typos, readers digest versions etc.;-) > And why was monkey chosen to convey this theorem ? Because at the time someone came up with this idea there weren't any keyboards that cats use for sleeping on. That later led to the theorem that given enough cats, keyboards and time all possible Perl scripts will be created. > How far is this theorem true ? Has any monkey > proved this now :-) ?? Well, instead of using a single monkey, giving it infinite time, you can use a large number of monkeys for a shorter time. Now, since the works of Shakespeare actually have been written (assming that Shakespeare was a kind of monkey and you don't instsit on the typewriter part), the theorem thus has been experimentally proven (as a possibly uninteded side effect of the mice having earth produced for finding "the" question). For another take on this have a look at the story "The Library of Babel" by Jorge Luis Borges (who was, BTW, the model for the blind librarian in Eco's "The Name of the Rose"). Regards, Jens -- \ Jens Thoms Toerring ___ jt(a)toerring.de \__________________________ http://toerring.de
From: Karthik Balaguru on 7 Mar 2010 13:02
On Mar 7, 10:47 pm, pk <p...(a)pk.invalid> wrote: > Karthik Balaguru wrote: > > Hi, > > I came across the 'Infinite Monkey Theorem'. > >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem > > > I wonder how can a monkey hitting keys at random on > > a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will > > almost surely type a given text, such as the complete > > works of William Shakespeare ? > > What part of > > "In this context, "almost surely" is a mathematical term with a precise > meaning, and the "monkey" is not an actual monkey, but a metaphor for an > abstract device that produces a random sequence of letters ad infinitum." > > and of this page > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almost_surely > > is not clear? > > If that's not enough, there's a mathematical proof down the page: > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem#Solution > > > And why was monkey chosen to convey this theorem ? > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem#History Yes, i saw that 'Direct Proof' , 'Probabilities', 'Real Monkey' and 'History' section that shed more light over this, I found those while continuing to understand more about this theorem and hence i sent another mail in quick succession to this. Anways, Thx a lot. Thx, Karthik Balaguru |