History Main / MonkeysOnATypewriter

* WebVideo/RTGame:

[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem A standard thought experiment from probability theory states that a million monkeys hammering a million typewriters (or a hundred, or a thousand) will, given sufficient time, eventually bang out entire works of Shakespeare (or Dickens, or all the books in the British Library) by complete accident.]] This is a vivid enough mental image that it gets referenced a ''lot'' in fiction.

A standard thought experiment from probability theory states that a million monkeys hammering a million typewriters (or a hundred, or a thousand) will, given sufficient time, eventually bang out entire works of Shakespeare (or Dickens, or all the books in the British Library) by complete accident. This is a vivid enough mental image that it gets referenced a ''lot'' in fiction.

* ''Radio/TheRickyGervaisShow'' has a segment in which Karl refuses to believe that the monkeys can ever actually write anything, so stubbornly that Ricky ends up storming out on him.

While they are part of the most common descriptions of this idea, versions involving "thousands" or "millions" of monkeys may confuse someone into thinking there is some kind of ''practical'' possibility of producing Shakespeare with monkeys, if we could only wait for a few million years. Some paraphrases of the problem even forget to mention the "eventually" or "infinite" part and say that you just need "a million monkeys for a million years". In fact, even if you replaced every atom in the universe with a monkey and a typewriter, and they all typed a thousand characters per second, the odds of their producing ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' (as well as the odds of any other specific text of the same length) within an [[SelfDemonstratingArticle dsafljcxzillion]] [[EleventyZillion ancjlaeladhaclaketlillion years]] are still incomprehensibly ''low''. However, such huge quantities of monkeys and time are no match for ''infinity'', which is where the magic happens.

[[folder: Video Games]]

* At the conclusion of Jack Horner's story in ''ComicBook/Fables'', the various scams he's pulled on devils finally catches up with him. Unable to decide who has rightful claim to his soul, they compromise by giving him his own private Hell at the end of existence where he has [[AndIMustScream nothing but himself]], a typewriter, and an endless supply of paper to write out what he learns from his absolute isolation. [[KarmaHoudini This backfires]] as it instead allows him to focus his low level reality warping powers to resurrect Gary, the anthropomorphic personification of the Pathetic Fallacy, who has much greater reality warping powers of his own. Together, with his endless time to contemplate the fate of literally every particle, they implement his blueprints for a utopic universe where he rules as God-king for the rest of eternity.

* In one episode of ''Series/MuppetsTonight'', we learn that the show's scripters are actual Muppet monkeys, mindlessly pounding at typewriters going "Ook-ack-ook!". Once they come up with a satisfactory script, Kermit lets them [[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey go touch the monolith]].

Robert Wilensky complemented this with the statement that "Now, thanks to the Internet, we know this is not true." [[WeAreNotAloneIndex For further reading]], see [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem Other]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Infinite_monkey_theorem_in_popular_culture Wiki]].

The point is that the monkeys are flailing at the keys without understanding the point of the machine. Given enough time or enough monkeys, or both, one of them will accidentally hit the keys in the order "[shift]T-o[space]b-e[comma][space]o-r[space]n-o-t[space]t-o[space]b-e..." There is also some non-infinite yet unimaginably large number of years within which typing ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' has a probability of 99%, but the chance still doesn't reach 100% until infinity.

One common joke is to assume that the quantity of monkeys and/or allotted time required to write something is proportional to its artistic merit, so Shakespeare might take a million monkeys a million years, but three monkeys could write ''Literature/AtlantaNights'' in half a day. This isn't actually true (in fact, all that matters is the length of the text that the monkeys are replicating), but it is [[RuleOfFunny funny]]. When we start throwing infinity in it (which is implied by the "eventually" in the first sentence of this page), then either one monkey is enough given an infinite time, or among infinite monkeys typing (for example) 400 pages each, one will type a particular 400-page text on the first try.

One common joke is to assume that the number of monkeys required to write something is proportional to its artistic merit, so Shakespeare might take a million monkeys a million years, but three monkeys could write ''Literature/AtlantaNights'' in half a day. This isn't actually true (in fact, all that matters is the length of the text that the monkeys are replicating), but it is [[RuleOfFunny funny]]. When we start throwing infinity in it (which is implied by the "eventually" in the first sentence of this page), then either one monkey is enough given an infinite time, or among infinite monkeys typing (for example) 400 pages each, one will type a particular 400-page text on the first try.

* The chances of a monkey on a typewriter perfectly typing out ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' on its first try is estimated to be [[MillionToOneChance 1 in 10^183,800]]. If one were to take in exact punctuation, capitalization, and spacing it would be more like 1 in 10^360,763. This is the lowest quantity '''known to man'''.

* Creator/{{Netflix}} had an April Fool's gag called ''Netflix Live,'' with Creator/WillArnett narrating various boring scenes around the office. At one point, while watching somebody play a computer game:

** In "Last Exit to Springfield", C. Montgomery Burns has a bunch of monkeys at typewriters.

** Also from the episode "Children of a Lesser Clod."
--->'''Krusty''': Now, every year we find one good Samaritan so deserving that not recognizing him would make Santa Claus himself vomit with rage... mmm... [[WhoWritesThisCrap who writes this stuff?]]\\

'''Mr. Teeny''': ''(subtitles)'' I think it's remarkable I wrote anything.
* The ''WesternAnimation/{{Histeria}}'' episode "Super Writers" has a short sketch about this.
* The ''WesternAnimation/IAmWeasel'' episode "A Troo Storee" has a scene where several monkeys with typewriters are trying to write a novel. Weasel manages to insult them by offering to pay them in bananas, and only I.R. Baboon is left to finish the book.
* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "The King is Dead", Peter uses a monkeys-on-typewriters reference to belittle the importance of art. [[CutawayGag This is followed by a scene in which several monkeys argue over which flower would best fit in the "rose by any other name" line from]] ''Theatre/RomeoAndJuliet''.
* In ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'', "Cliptastic Countdown" combines this with WhoWritesThisCrap. Major Monogram demands who wrote the lines, to which Carl the intern replies, "Agent M, sir." We then see a monkey in a fedora at a typewriter, causing Dr. Doofenshmirtz to complain how [[WhatAreRecords none of the kids watching will know what a typewriter is]]. Monogram tries to excuse it by say it was cheaper that way, but Doof just continues ranting on the point that they would have to find a typewriter from an antiques dealer.

-->"On Time Team tonight, we're in Stratford on Avon, where we've uncovered loads of monkey skeletons and some typewriters."

* The credits gag in one episode of ''Radio/JohnFinnemoresSouvenirProgramme'' claims that this is how the show was written.

* There's a post on tumblr circulating that theorizes that, since the number π is an irrational number and thus has no end, ''somewhere'' in π's random and endless stream of decimals is a string of numbers that can be translated into the source code for a video game or movie.

* The [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boltzmann_brain boltzmann brain]] concept is basically the same principle applied to atoms, wherein they bump into eachother in such a way as to form a sapient being. Assuming that A) [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_decay Proton decay]] isn't a thing, and B) the universe eventually dies by petering out rather than by collapsing back in on itself or ripping itself to shreds, the universe's long-dead corpse is expected to start churning these out.

* The band Music/{{Chumbawumba}} has claimed they were named after a word typed by a monkey when somebody actually tried to do this in real life. This was cited on ''Series/NevermindTheBuzzcocks'', but it later turned out it was only [[MultipleChoicePast one of several false explanations the band would say in interviews to troll the interviewers]].

* The band Music/{{Chumbawumba}} was supposedly named after a word typed by a monkey when somebody actually tried to do this in real life. (This was cited on ''Series/NevermindTheBuzzcocks'', but it later turned out it was only one of several false explanations the band would say in interviews to troll the interviewers).

* The chances of a monkey on a typewriter perfectly typing out ''Theatre/{{Hamlet}}'' on its first try is estimated to be [[OneInAMillionChance 1 in 10^183,800]]. If one were to take in exact punctuation, capitalization, and spacing it would be more like 1 in 10^360,763. This is the lowest quantity '''known to man'''.