We can't directly go counterfactual on necessary facts - only on observations that provide evidence regarding necessary facts.
Yes we can. Omega could offer you to control worlds where Q is actually odd.
I want to answer "No he can't. Not if I am in a world in which Q is actually even. Not if we are talking about the same arithmetic formula Q in each case." But I'm coming to realize that we may not even be talking the same language. For example, I don't really understand what is meant by "Omega could offer you to control worlds where ___". Are you suggesting that Omega could make the offer, though he might not have to deliver anything should such worlds not exist?
I notice that Shokwave ... is now saying that the value of Q is different in the counterfactual worlds
Link? The value of Q is uncertain, and this holds in considering either possible observation.
I was referring to this
Are you suggesting that Omega could make the offer, though he might not have to deliver anything should such worlds not exist?
Yes. The offer would be, to enact a given property in all possible worlds of specified event. If there are no possible worlds in that event, this requirement is met by doing nothing.
Consider the following thought experiment ("Counterfactual Calculation"):
Should you write "even" on the counterfactual test sheet, given that you're 99% sure that the answer is "even"?
This thought experiment contrasts "logical knowledge" (the usual kind) and "observational knowledge" (what you get when you look at a calculator display). The kind of knowledge you obtain by observing things is not like the kind of knowledge you obtain by thinking yourself. What is the difference (if there actually is a difference)? Why does observational knowledge work in your own possible worlds, but not in counterfactuals? How much of logical knowledge is like observational knowledge, and what are the conditions of its applicability? Can things that we consider "logical knowledge" fail to apply to some counterfactuals?
(Updateless analysis would say "observational knowledge is not knowledge" or that it's knowledge only in the sense that you should bet a certain way. This doesn't analyze the intuition of knowing the result after looking at a calculator display. There is a very salient sense in which the result becomes known, and the purpose of this thought experiment is to explore some of counterintuitive properties of such knowledge.)