'I Chimp, Therefore I Am'

Australian Researchers disprove the Infinite Monkey Theorem

Monkeys will never type Shakespeare, a peer review study led by Sydney researchers has found.

The research disproves the “infinite monkey theorem” that reasoned monkeys pressing keys on a typewriter - given infinite time - would eventually write the complete works of William Shakespeare.

It turns out, they can’t. At least, not with that attitude.

To be fair, William Shakespeare wasn’t great at climbing trees. So there’s that.

I have a theory that, given five weeks, a group of monkeys typing randomly could reproduce the Guardian website.

But that’s just a wild guess.

Who knows, they might be able to do it in four.

Stephen Woodcock and Jay Falletta found that the time it would take for a typing monkey to replicate Shakespeare's plays, sonnets and poems would be longer than the lifespan of our universe …