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Old 12-17-2004, 11:47 AM
Bodhi Bodhi is offline
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Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Berkeley, California
Posts: 425
Default Re: Newcomb\'s Paradox

Excellent reply.

[ QUOTE ]
...it seems paradoxical, but only because such things cannot be done in the real world. For the sake of this experiment though, the only laws are those of the assumptions, and it's by those we're bound.

[/ QUOTE ]

Whenever I encounter a paradox I try to look for inconcistencies that will debunk it. Perhaps the paradox is generated because two-box people retain a real-world perspective on the problem, while one-box people are willing to idealize their assumptions? This ambiguity between two rational courses of action is what makes the question so tricky, I think.

Newcomb's paradox has been tormenting philosophers and economists for decades, and so far as a I know there is yet to be any academic concensus on it.
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