if a bunch of monkeys sat at typewriters for eternity would type the complete works of shakespeare...?

Question

does that mean that if space is indeed infinite, there has to be an infinite amount of planets with every slight variation of life we have here on earth?

Answer 1

Yes. If occupied space is truly infinite in extent, then every possible planet must exist. That is, anything that could possibly exist within the laws of physics must indeed exist. So there would be a planet that is identical to our Earth, except that Elvis is still alive.

Answer 2

Lots of misconceptions in the answers so far.

1. It is not known whether space is finite or infinite (See Scientific American article referenced below). The expansion of space puts a limit on the OBSERVABLE universe; but no laws of physics say that there can't be something beyond that.

2. Mountainman says: "If there were an infinite number of stars, there[sic] combined light, no matter how dim, would be infinite." This is true, but it does NOT mean that their combined INTENSITY would be infinite. Light intensity is a function of distance as well as a star's luminosity, which means "most" of the infinite stars would make an infinitessimally small contribution to the overall brightness of the sky at any point. You can do a simple calculation (Google "Wilhelm Olbers") to show that an infinite number of stars, equally spaced, should produce a uniform (and finite!) glow in all directions. (The fact that no such glow is observed is attributed to the finite age of the universe: Google "Olbers' Paradox".)

3. About those monkeys: The "Monkeys" are used as a metaphor for randomness, meaning that every sequence of letters they type would be equally as likely as any other sequence. If you constrain the length of a "random monkey novel" to be finite (let's say, 300,000,000 characters; bigger than Shakespeare's complete works), then there's a finite number of possible character configurations they can type. If their typing is truly random (as opposed to typing "AAAAAA..." every time), then you can do a fairly easy calculation to show that, after a certain finite number of years, there is a 99.99% probability that one of the "monkey books" will be a copy of Shakespeare's complete works. Given an INFINITE number of years, the probability goes from 99.99% to an absolute mathematical certainty.

4. Using the same reasoning as #3, it's also a mathematical certainty that, if the matter in the universe is infinite, that somewhere else there is an exact copy of this earth. Also, another copy in which Elvis (or a virtual Elvis) is still alive. There was an article in Scientific American a couple of years ago about this very concept.

Answer 3

Okay, eternity is an awful long time, let's limit it to some chunk. And let's see, there are about 1000 characters in this paragraph alone. Let's say 1 billion monkeys are sitting at 1 billion keyboards each typing 1 billion characters per second for a billion years. Then each monkey will type about 31 billion billion billion characters in a billion years, for a total of 31 * 10^36 characters. Counting letters, numbers, and symbols, there's about 40 characters in use in this paragraph, so let's keep the character set abbreviated to that. So the odds of one of them reproducing this paragraph exactly would be something like one in

1000^40 * 10^9/(31*10^36) =

10^(3*40*9)/(31*10^36) =

10^1080/(31*10^36) =

10^1044/31 =

3 * 10^1042

This is an unimaginable number. You would have a better chance of hitting the lottery every consecutive play for the next 100 years.


As much fun as infinity is to play with, there really isn't any such thing. There are less than a trillion galaxys of less than a trillion stars each in the observable universe. That's an incredibly small number compared to infinity. And it's only enough time, space, matter, and energy for an incredibly small fraction of all possibilities.

Answer 4

Well, as I said in your other question, space is not infinite, and therefore, neither is time.

BUT, it's quite possible (probable some scientists believe) that there are an infinite number of other universes or realities. In which case, you, I and everything else could exist in an infinite variety of ways. But not within this universe.

Regarding the monkeys - it's nt possible for them to achieve that within this universe (as time is not infinite), but theoretically, yes - give them infinite time and paper they would type out the works of Shakespeare. And Milton. And Hardy. And Dickens. They have infinite time, so they'd do everything.

You seem interested in this subject. Try and find a book called The Universe Next Door by Marcus Chown. Very readable, and jaw-droppingly fascinating on all this stuff.

Answer 5

First,the universe is not infinite.If there were an infinite number of stars,there combined light,no matter how dim,would be infinite,it wouldn't be possible for life to exist in an infinite universe.

Second,people have used the "monkeys typing Shakespeare analogy.2 things they generally get wrong though.!st one being,the event must be according to the laws of physics,in other words,even if the universe were infinite(it's not) there would be no place in the infinite universe that say,2 objects with mass could occupy the same place at the same time.So not EVERYTHING will happen,only what the laws of physics allows.
2nd thing people misunderstand is,even if the universe were infinite,that does not mean everything possible MUST happen,nothing MUST happen,it means in an infinite universe(it isn't)there is a high probability of events happening,not a certainty

Answer 6

1) monkeys, babies, a piece of wood floating down the river hitting leaves which represent a letter of the aplhabet which scientist use to type into a computer....... whatever alright!! it doesnt matter. you have to say that however unlikely this is then yes it is mathematically possible. (even regardless of evolution making the monkeys super impression uber typists lol)

2) im not 100% on this but i dont think space is infinite. because the energy released at the big bang would not be infinite. We have our universe which has our energy inside it and then outside of our universe is just unoccupied space - its there but theres nothing in it. i guess we knows its theres because overwise there is nothing to expand into. -- sorry i dont know why i answered really haha oh well i got this far i might aswell post it in!!!! plus i like the monkey thing

Answer 7

According to ,"The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy", yes. Especially when you use the Infinite Improbability Drive. Wow! Space monkeys.

Answer 8

Yes, *IF* (big if) the universe was infinite ... with an infinite number of planets existing for an infinite amount of time.

But the universe is NOT infinite. While the number of stars and planets is *huge*, it is not infinite. And while the universe is extremely old (about 14 billion years old), this is not an infinite amount of time.

Answer 9

Hello, Infinite has no time (days,weeks, years) so the monkeys would never complete Shakespeare.With so many planets around they could indeed find other species of living matter.Or might colonise one themselves calling it Planet of the Apes because who will know who will find infinity?Only the monkeys typing for eternity.

Answer 10

No space is not infinite. I'm afraid that's just another fair tale for grownups, along with imaginary friends for grownups just about every group of humans has these.