Originally posted by Sevenstars_777
Some scientists argue: 'A monkey tapping away at random on a typewriter
would eventually write correctly not only words but also phrases, sentences, and even whole books. So, given enough time, "chance" can porduce anything-Whales, bees, spiders, monkeys, even Man.
Let us assume that the monkey uses a typewriter with 60 keys:
26 small letters, 26 capitals, a space, full stop, comma, colon, semicolon, two brackets and a question mark.
Suppose we wish the monkey to produce the word peanut. Now, the chances of a monkey typing the letter P are 1:6, and of typing
PE 1/60* 1/60= 1 in 3,600.
so his chances of tyiping the six-letter word PEANUT are (1/60)*6 =1 in 46,656,000,000.
This means that if the monkey could type at a rate of 3 letters per second, he would have to type for 450 years to produce peanut.
Now let's modify this analogy to better fit the theory of evolution.
1/60 chance for the monkey to type "p"
Let's assume the worst. Our monkey gets it right on the very last try.
It took our monkey 20 secods to type "p". Enter selection. We now always start from "p".
Let's again assume the worst. 20 seconds more and we've got "pe". Selection comes in again. We now always start from "pe". Remember we have a clear goal in sight, just like things are with natural selection.
Fast forward 80 seconds and we've got "peanut". This was the worst possible time. It took 2 minutes instead of 450 years. The fastest time would have been 2 seconds.



