Newcomb's paradox

Newcomb's Paradox, also referred to as Newcomb's Problem, is a thought experiment involving a game between two players, one of whom purports to be able to predict the future. Whether or not the problem is actually a paradox is disputed.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Newcomb's paradox was created by William Newcomb of the University of California's Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. However, it was first analyzed and was published in a philosophy paper spread to the philosophical community by Robert Nozick in 1969, and appeared in Martin Gardner's Scientific American column in 1974. Today it is a much debated problem in the philosophical branch of decision theory but has received little attention from the mathematical side.

Related Topics:
William Newcomb - University of California - Lawrence Livermore Laboratory - Robert Nozick - Martin Gardner - Scientific American

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~