Comment author: endoself 08 February 2011 10:53:58AM *  13 points [-]

After finishing dinner, Sidney Morgenbesser decides to order dessert. The waitress tells him he has two choices: apple pie and blueberry pie. Sidney orders the apple pie. After a few minutes the waitress returns and says that they also have cherry pie at which point Morgenbesser says "In that case I'll have the blueberry pie."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independence_of_irrelevant_alternatives

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sydney_Morgenbesser

Comment author: mcandre 12 February 2011 11:55:48PM *  1 point [-]

Sidney chooses pies on the basis of popularity. Apple pie is more popular than blueberry pie. Apple pie is so popular that pie eaters have grown sick of it. They quickly gorge on the new cherry pie. When the fad dies down, they are still sick of apple pie and begin a blueberry revival. Sidney correctly predicts that blueberry will be more popular.

In response to Timeless Physics
Comment author: Hopefully_Anonymous 27 May 2008 09:48:16AM 0 points [-]

it's an interesting theory.

Comment author: mcandre 03 February 2011 05:47:54PM -5 points [-]

I have one exception to the description of timeless physics: Each node in the tree represents a different state than its parent node. This is a time step. A time step that is not instantaneous--we still observe the universe unfolding. Have you looked into cellular automata? This is how I view the universe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cellular_automata

P.S. I'm reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality and absolutely loving it! Have you read Crimes Against Logic?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0071446435/