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I was browsing some questions, and I noticed that Given an infinite number of monkeys and an infinite amount of time, would one of them write Hamlet? was closed because it was off topic.

While it is phrased in a colloquial manner, it does seem to be mathematics, see The Infinite Monkey Theorem, so why was it closed as off topic?

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I would guess that the reason is to prevent new answers, which would likely not add anything to the existing discussion. That question attracts a little too much attention.

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    $\begingroup$ Why don't we just lock it instead? $\endgroup$
    – Willie Wong
    Nov 10, 2011 at 12:50
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The only reason for closing I have noticed articulated is to prevent junk answers (I might not be observant about other reasons, but at least it seems to be a main reason). If I count correctly, during the over 2 years it was open from Nov 2011 to Jan 2014, 4 answers were posted, all 4 in Nov 2011, so none had come in during the last 2 years before closing. I am in favor of reopening with protected status, unless and until I am aware of an actual problem to solve by closing.

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  • $\begingroup$ I would still like to see this answer deleted. $\endgroup$
    – Jonas Meyer
    Jul 18, 2015 at 0:43

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