infinite-monkey theorem

Infinite-Monkey Theorem
 n.

   "If you put an {infinite} number of monkeys at typewriters, eventually
   one will bash out the script for Hamlet." (One may also hypothesize a
   small number of monkeys and a very long period of time.) This theorem
   asserts nothing about the intelligence of the one {random} monkey that
   eventually comes up with the script (and note that the mob will also
   type out all the possible incorrect versions of Hamlet). It may be
   referred to semi-seriously when justifying a {brute force} method; the
   implication is that, with enough resources thrown at it, any technical
   challenge becomes a {one-banana problem}. This argument gets more
   respect since {Linux} justified the {bazaar} mode of development.

   Other hackers maintain that the Infinite-Monkey Theorem cannot be true
   -- otherwise Usenet would have reproduced the entire canon of great
   literature by now.

   In mid-2002, researchers at Plymouth Univesity in England actually put
   a working computer in a cage with six crested macaques. The monkeys
   proceeded to bash the machine with a rock, urinate on it, and type the
   letter S a lot (later, the letters A, J, L, and M also crept in). The
   results were published in a limited-edition book, Notes Towards The
   Complete Works of Shakespeare. A researcher reported: "They were quite
   interested in the screen, and they saw that when they typed a letter,
   something happened. There was a level of intention there." Scattered
   field reports that there are AOL users this competent have been
   greeted with well-deserved skepticism.

   This theorem has been traced to the mathematiciamn Emile Borel in
   1913, and was first popularized by the astronomer Sir Arthur
   Eddington. It became part of the idiom of techies via the classic SF
   short story Inflexible Logic by Russell Maloney, and many younger
   hackers know it through a reference in Douglas Adams's Hitchhiker's
   Guide to the Galaxy. Some other references have been collected on the
   Web. On 1 April 2000 the usage acquired its own Internet standard,
   RFC2795 (Infinite Monkey Protocol Suite).