Now that I think of it, it depends on exactly what it means for Omega to tell that you have a gene for two-boxing. If Omega has the equivalent of a textbook saying "gene AGTGCGTTACT leads to two-boxing" or if the gene produces a brain that is incapable of one-boxing at all in the same way that genes produce lungs that are incapable of breathing water, then what I said applies. If it's a gene for two-boxing because it causes the bearer to produce a specific chain of reasoning, and Omega knows it's a two-boxing gene because Omega has analyzed the chain and figured out that it leads to two-boxing, then there actually is no difference.
(This is complicated by the fact that the problem states that having the gene is statistically associated with two-boxing, which is neither of those. If the gene is only statistically associated with two-boxing, it might be that the gene makes the bearer likely to two-box in ways that are not implicated if the bearer reasons the problem out in full logical detail.)
I am currently learning about the basics of decision theory, most of which is common knowledge on LW. I have a question, related to why EDT is said not to work.
Consider the following Newcomblike problem: A study shows that most people who two-box in Newcomblike problems as the following have a certain gene (and one-boxers don't have the gene). Now, Omega could put you into something like Newcomb's original problem, but instead of having run a simulation of you, Omega has only looked at your DNA: If you don't have the "two-boxing gene", Omega puts $1M into box B, otherwise box B is empty. And there is $1K in box A, as usual. Would you one-box (take only box B) or two-box (take box A and B)? Here's a causal diagram for the problem:
Since Omega does not do much other than translating your genes into money under a box, it does not seem to hurt to leave it out:
I presume that most LWers would one-box. (And as I understand it, not only CDT but also TDT would two-box, am I wrong?)
Now, how does this problem differ from the smoking lesion or Yudkowsky's (2010, p.67) chewing gum problem? Chewing Gum (or smoking) seems to be like taking box A to get at least/additional $1K, the two-boxing gene is like the CGTA gene, the illness itself (the abscess or lung cancer) is like not having $1M in box B. Here's another causal diagram, this time for the chewing gum problem:
As far as I can tell, the difference between the two problems is some additional, unstated intuition in the classic medical Newcomb problems. Maybe, the additional assumption is that the actual evidence lies in the "tickle", or that knowing and thinking about the study results causes some complications. In EDT terms: The intuition is that neither smoking nor chewing gum gives the agent additional information.