An internal post on our extranet got me thinking about the argument that quality is a function of quantity. In the post (Coding Horror: Quantity Always Trumps Quality ) the idea was that better quality is the outcome if you iteratively do things over and over again - is this not just an application of Trial & Error Economics? The argument also holds true only if the creator learns from the early mistake and this means that there has be be intermediate measurement (or review) of the progress so far and also assumes that there is either a) a target to achieve or b) a reference point (teacher?) that can judge progress.
The theory of a million monkeys with a million typewriters does hold true but that evolutionary approach seems to lack learning outside of the project being worked on. Experience can be brought to bear to speed-up the process.