Newcomb's paradox
In philosophy and mathematics, Newcomb's paradox, also known as Newcomb's problem, is a thought experiment involving a game between two players, one of whom is able to predict the future.
Predicted choice Actual choice |
A + B (B has $0) |
B (B has $1,000,000) |
|---|---|---|
| A + B | $1,000 | $1,001,000 |
| B | $0 | $1,000,000 |
Newcomb's paradox was created by William Newcomb of the University of California's Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. However, it was first analyzed in a philosophy paper by Robert Nozick in 1969 and appeared in the March 1973 issue of Scientific American, in Martin Gardner's "Mathematical Games". Today it is a much debated problem in the philosophical branch of decision theory.
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