Does Frequency Really Matter?
2016
A hypothesis popular amongst computer hackers – the infinite monkey theorem1 – holds that, given enough time, a device that produces a random sequence of letters ad infinitum will, ultimately, create not only a coherent text, but also one of great quality (for example, Shakespeare’s Hamlet). The hypothesis has become more widely known thanks to David Ives’ satirical play, Words, Words, Words (Dramatists Play Service, NY). In the play, three monkeys – Kafka, Milton and Swift – are given the task of writing something akin to Hamlet, under the watchful eye of the experiment’s designer, Dr Rosenbaum. But, as Kafka reveals when she reads aloud what she has typed thus far, the experiment is beset with seemingly insurmountable difficulties:In my view, Kafka’s concern about whether the simple repetition of letters can produce a meaningful text is well placed. But I would contend that the frequency with which particular words are used in a text can tell us something meaningful about that text and also about its author(s) – especially when we compare word choice/usage against the word choice/usage of other texts (and their authors). This can be explained, albeit in a simplistic way, by inverting the underlying assumption of the infinite monkey theorem: we learn something about texts by focussing on the frequency with which authors use words precisely because their choice of words is seldom random.3