Could monkeys really write Shakespeare? - Answers

No. It's a mental or mathematical exercise, designed to give you a concept of infinity. Assuming an unlimited number of monkeys pecking at a keyboard, some of them of them are bound to hit an "N". In fact, an infinite number of them will hit "N" since infinity divided by the number of keys on a keyboard, or any other number for that matter, is still infinity. Of those infinite number of monkeys, another infinite number will hit the letter "o" next, and so an infinite number of them will type "Now is the winter of our discontent", or all of Richard III or all of Shakespeare's works for that matter. But could they really do it? Of course not, since there is in reality not an infinite number of monkeys.