# Monkeys Shakespeare and Should You Do It **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [October 12, 2005, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkeys-shakespeare-and-should-you-do-it/325982 "2005-10-12T22:52:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 1\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2005, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkeys-shakespeare-and-should-you-do-it/325982/41 "2005-10-14T21:52:13Z")
> [@Harmonious Discord](#): > > Discuss the implications of doing the monkey Shakespeare bit on a computer. > The feasibility being discussed here: > [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=338979](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=338979) > > The question is not could you do it, but should you do it. The program would also produce copy of all things ever written, and do the people of the world deserve all that bad copy brought back to print. Much men say and do is best left in obscurity. > > Fighting breaking out the world over, because lost documents make it clear the powers that be are wrong. > > Lot’s of possibilities here. I don’t think that all those monkeys typing for all that time are claimed to produce all of Shakespeare with the words all in the Sakespearean sequence. I think the claim is that all of the words in Shakespeare will be somewhere in the copy. And if you let them go long enough all possible English words (we use only Royal typewriters with English font) will also be there. So everything that could possibly ever be written will already be there but someone has to assemble them. And that’s exactly what happens now. All possible words are around somewhere. The author merely has to find them and put them together in a useful way. Piece of cake. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/monkeys-shakespeare-and-should-you-do-it/325982.md?page=2)