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Newcomb's problem divides philosophers. Which side are you on?
- Cozumel 10y agoBox B? There's no point taking both boxes, you take Box B, the intelligence knows you'll take Box B so it gives you a million dollars. Maybe I'm missing something but it seems pretty simple!
- lifeformed 10y agoOkay, so you're sure there's a million dollars in Box B. Why not grab A as well?
- CarolineW 10y agoThe thing I find interesting is this. For each possible choice there is a single, simple, iron-clad line of reasoning to say that it's the right choice, and people always seem to thing that the other line of reasoning is bunk, and people who espouse it are stupid. It will be interesting to see the results of the poll.
- danieltillett 10y agoAnother example of the intellectual bankruptcy of modern philosophy. I dispare when we have real philosophical problems to work on that intelligent people waste their time in semantic arguments over impossible beings.
- Cozumel 10y agoWay to miss the point! lol
- danieltillett 10y agoNo. You might find reading more about this particular 'problem' worthwhile [1] especially the part about its applicability in the real world. 1. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb%27s_paradox https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb%27s_paradox
- Cozumel 10y agoIt has plenty of real world applications, the fact that you don't understand them doesn't disqualify them. The only 'intellectual bankruptcy' displayed here is yours, and please don't EVER use wikipedia as a source, it demonstrates that 1, that's your only source of information and 2, your knowledge on the subject extends only to a 30 second wiki read.
- danieltillett 10y agoCan we keep the personal attacks down - you have no idea what my understanding or background is. We can disagree civilly about the importance of this thought experiment without questioning each other's intentions and competency. As for wiki it is a convenient resource for a simplified summary of issues. You are not the only person I am addressing by writing. More importantly have you have not addressed the problem that a Predictor is immpossible in the real world. Any philosophical discussions that have at their core an impossible being are 'intellectually bankrupt'.
- Terr_ 10y agoWhat's the expected-value of surprising and "beating" a god?
- deleted 10y ago[deleted]
- bumbledraven 10y agoTo clarify the problem, consider this variation: instead of going into the room yourself, you are to write a program which will output either 1 or 2, corresponding to the number of boxes you take. The super-intelligent being will analyze your program before putting money in the boxes, and will then run it to determine your action. How should you write the program in order to maximize your expected return?