Gary_Drescher comments on A problem with Timeless Decision Theory (TDT) - Less Wrong

36 Post author: Gary_Drescher 04 February 2010 06:47PM

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Comment author: Gary_Drescher 05 February 2010 07:17:00PM 2 points [-]

I already saw the $1M, so, by two-boxing, aren't I just choosing to be one of those who see their E module output True?

Not if a counterfactual consequence of two-boxing is that the large box (probably) would be empty (even though in fact it is not empty, as you can already see).

That's the same question that comes up in the original transparent-boxes problem, of course. We probably shouldn't try to recap that whole debate in the middle of this thread. :)

Comment author: Tyrrell_McAllister 05 February 2010 07:49:44PM *  0 points [-]

That's the same question that comes up in the original transparent-boxes problem, of course. We probably shouldn't try to recap that whole debate in the middle of this thread. :)

Don't worry; I don't want to do that :). If I recall the original transparent-boxes problem correctly, I agree with you on what to do in that case.

Just to check my memory, in the original problem, there are two transparent boxes, A and B. You see that A contains $1M and B contains $1000. You know that B necessarily contains $1000, but A would have contained $1M iff it were the case that you will decide to take only A. Otherwise, A would have been empty. The conclusion (with which I agree) is that you should take only A. Is that right? (If I'm misremembering something crucial, is there a link to the full description online?) [ETA: I see that you added a description to your post. My recollection above seems to be consistent with your description.]

In the original problem, if we use the "many choosers" heuristic, there are no choosers who two-box and yet who get the $1M. Therefore, you cannot "choose to be" one of them. This is why two-boxing should have no appeal to you.

In contrast, in your new problem, there are two-boxers who get the $1M and who get their E module to output True. So you can "choose to be" one of them, no? And since they're the biggest winners, that's what you should do, isn't it?