http://www.perlmonks.org?node_id=35703


in reply to RE: RE: RE: RE: Genetic Programming or breeding Perls
in thread Genetic Programming or breeding Perls

myocom: "Did Shakespeare actually write novels, though?"

Heck, some people aren't even convinced he wrote plays.

There's no evidence to suggest that Shakespeare ever wrote a novel. This does not mean it's impossible that he did, but I would say it means that, beyond a reasonable doubt, he didn't. Which is why, "I think I can pretty safely say that no number of monkeys, under any circumstances, will ever reproduce a single Shakespeare novel... "

myocom: "And is a Shakespearean novel different from a novel written by Shakespeare?"

Oooh, good one! But again, I return to my original statement... a "Shakespeare novel" would pretty certainly be a novel written by Shakespeare.

Okay, okay... it could be a novel written about Shakespeare. But if you play it that way, I'm going to have to get serious about definitions too. We'll need neccesary and sufficient conditions for novelhood, for monkeyhood, for typewriterhood... I can squrim with the best of 'em... you're not taking me without a fight! ;-)

Oh... I suppose we should actually associate this with Perl somehow... um, use strict!