Monkey Can’t Type Shakespeare; Universe Likely to End First

A recent study has cast doubt on the famous thought experiment suggesting that a monkey typing randomly for an infinite amount of time could eventually reproduce the complete works of Shakespeare. While this notion illustrates how infinite time could make the improbable probable, two Australian mathematicians have found that even if every chimpanzee on Earth typed for the entire lifespan of the universe, they would “almost certainly” never recreate Shakespeare’s works.

Known as the “infinite monkey theorem,” this idea has been around for over a century and is attributed to either French mathematician Emile Borel or British anthropologist Thomas Huxley, with some speculating its roots go as far back as Aristotle.

In a recently published peer-reviewed study, the mathematicians explored what would happen under generous yet finite conditions for these typing monkeys. Their calculations assumed a monkey could type for about 30 years, pressing one key per second on a keyboard with 30 keys (representing letters and some punctuation).

They used the “heat death” of the universe, estimated to occur in a googol (a 1 followed by 100 zeros) years, as the experiment’s time limit. Practical concerns, like feeding the monkeys or their survival as the Sun expands, were ignored.

The study found that a single monkey would have only about a five percent chance of typing the word “banana” within its lifetime. Given that Shakespeare’s body of work spans 884,647 words—with “banana” notably absent—the task seemed overwhelming. The mathematicians broadened the scope to include all 200,000 chimpanzees currently on Earth, assuming this population would remain constant until the universe’s end. Yet even with this vast number, success remained practically impossible.

Study co-author Stephen Woodcock explained that even with every atom in the universe replicating itself as a separate universe, it still wouldn’t be enough for the chimps to recreate Shakespeare’s works. Even with more chimps typing faster, it was implausible that “monkey labor” could produce any meaningful written content beyond trivial sequences.

The study concluded with a nod to Shakespeare himself, suggesting that his own writings may serve as an answer to whether “monkey labor” could ever replace human creativity as a source of meaningful literature or scholarship.