šØāš« āSo hereās the premise of Newcombās problem: Box A is transparent, and definitely has a thousand dollars in it.
Box B is opaque, and MIGHT have a million dollars in it.
šØāš« āYou have two options: You can take both Box A and Box B, or you can JUST take Box B.
BUT! There is a super computer. This super computer can predict with almost perfect accuracy whether you will take one or both boxes.
If it predicted youād take BOTH boxes A and B, Box B will be empty.
If it predicted youād ONLY take box B, Box B will have a million dollars.
This is only explained AFTER you enter the room, and you have no advanced knowledge before entering the room.ā
š āSo whether Box B has a million dollars in it is decided before I enter the room. Whatās in it will not change.ā
šØāš« āCorrect!ā
š āAnd I have no advance knowledge of this challenge, and therefore no opportunity to try and trick the super computer. I cannot consciously influence its prediction.ā
šØāš« āCorrect!ā
š āBy the time Iām in the room, it is literally impossible for me to change whether there is a million dollars in Box B.
The question may as well be simplified to ādo you want to chance walking away without any prize money for no reason?āā
šØāš« āWell, philosophically, thereās more nuance thanāā
š āEven if I genuinely believed it made sense to only take Box B, nothing I do once in the room will change whether thereās a million dollars in Box B. That decision has already been made.
There is no objective benefit to not taking both boxes regardless of what I thought prior to entering the room.
The idea that I can manipulate the outcome by only taking Box B is an illusion of power. The only power I have in this situation is whether Iām out that thousand dollars.
I might not care about that thousand dollars if I get the million, but nothing changes if I only take Box B beyond not getting that thousand dollars.ā
šØāš« āWhat if the super computer is infallible and canāt be wrong?ā
š āThen I fry it with my laser eyes.ā
š āIf the super computer can be magic, I can have laser eyes.ā