CentralNotice Infinite monkey theorem From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation , search Not to be confused with Hundredth monkey effect . This article needs additional citations for verification . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2012) Given enough time, a chimp punching at random on a typewriter would almost surely type out all of Shakespeare's plays. The infinite monkey theorem states that a monkey hitting keys at random on a typewriter keyboard for an infinite amount of time will almost surely type a given text, such as the complete works of William Shakespeare . In this context, "almost surely" is a mathematical term with a precise meaning, and the "monkey" is not an actual monkey , but a metaphor for an abstract device that produces a...