anotherblackhat comments on Decision Theories: A Less Wrong Primer - Less Wrong

69 Post author: orthonormal 13 March 2012 11:31PM

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Comment author: orthonormal 13 March 2012 04:55:32AM 0 points [-]

There are multiple formulations- I picked one that worked for my purposes, in which X has full knowledge of the setup, including the fact that the boxes are prepared before X even enters the room. This rules out some ways of dodging the question.

Comment author: anotherblackhat 14 March 2012 12:08:49AM 0 points [-]

I claim your variation doesn't address the hidden assumption that P(predict X | do X) is near unity, given that P(do X | predict X) is near unity.
But there's a stronger objection;
Why pick such a contentious example for a primer? People have cached thoughts about the classic version of the problem, and that's going to interfere with the point you're trying to make.

Comment author: orthonormal 14 March 2012 12:20:57AM 0 points [-]

According to Wikipedia there are multiple classic formulations, some involving uncertainty and others involving certainty.