B_For_Bandana comments on Newbomb's parabox - Less Wrong

-9 Post author: Locaha 01 July 2013 01:51PM

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Comment author: B_For_Bandana 01 July 2013 02:07:56PM 18 points [-]

This isn't a paradox, the bomb will go off no matter what, assuming Omega is a perfect predictor.

Amusingly, this wouldn't seem like a paradox if something good was guaranteed to happen if Omega guessed right. Like if the problem was that you're locked in a box, and you can only avoid getting a million dollars if you do the opposite of what Omega predicts. Answer: "cool, I get a million dollars!" and you stop thinking. In the problem as stated, you're casting about for an answer that doesn't seem possible, and that feels like thinking about paradoxes, so you think the problem is a paradox. It isn't. You're just trapped in a box with a bomb.

Comment author: jaibot 01 July 2013 04:28:11PM 6 points [-]

Agreed. This isn't really interesting. It's basically "If you have access to a RNG you have a 50% chance of survival, otherwise death."