How does the box know? I could open B with the intent of opening only B or I could open B with the intent of then opening A. Perhaps Omega has locked the boxes such that they only open when you shout your choice to the sky. That would beat my preferred strategy of opening B before deciding which to choose. I open boxes without choosing to take them all the time.
Are our common notions about boxes catching us here? In my experience, opening a box rarely makes nearby objects disintegrate. It is physically impossible to “leave $1000 on the table,” because it will disintegrate if you do not choose A. I also have no experience with trans-galactic super-intelligences, and its ability to make time-traveling super-boxes is already covered by the discussion above. I think of boxes as things that either are full or are not, independent of my intentions, but I also think of them as things that do not disintegrate based on my intentions.
Taking both is equivalent to just taking A. Restate the problem that way: take A and get $1000 or take B and get $1,000,000. Which would you prefer?
I think the problem becomes more amusing if box A does not disintegrate. They are just two cardboard boxes, one of which is open and visibly has $1000 in it. You don’t shout your intention to the sky, you just take whatever boxes you like. The reasonable thing to do is open box B; if it is empty, take box A too; if it is full of money, heck, take box A too. They’re boxes, they can’t stop you. But that logic makes you a two-boxer, so if Omega anticipates it, and Omega does, B will be empty. You definitely need to pre-commit to taking only B. Assume you have, and you open B, and B has $1,000,000. You win! Now what do you do? A is just sitting there with $1000 in it. You already have your million. You even took it out of the box, in case the box disintegrates. Do you literally walk away from $1000, on the belief that Omega has some hidden trick to retroactively make B empty? The rule was not that the money would go away if you took both, the rule is that B would be empty. B was not empty. A is still there. You already won for being a one-boxer, does anything stop you from being a two-boxer and winning the bonus $1000?
How does the box know? I could open B with the intent of opening only B or I could open B with the intent of then opening A. Perhaps Omega has locked the boxes such that they only open when you shout your choice to the sky. That would beat my preferred strategy of opening B before deciding which to choose. I open boxes without choosing to take them all the time.
Are our common notions about boxes catching us here? In my experience, opening a box rarely makes nearby objects disintegrate. It is physically impossible to “leave $1000 on the table,” because it will disintegrate if you do not choose A. I also have no experience with trans-galactic super-intelligences, and its ability to make time-traveling super-boxes is already covered by the discussion above. I think of boxes as things that either are full or are not, independent of my intentions, but I also think of them as things that do not disintegrate based on my intentions.
Taking both is equivalent to just taking A. Restate the problem that way: take A and get $1000 or take B and get $1,000,000. Which would you prefer?
I think the problem becomes more amusing if box A does not disintegrate. They are just two cardboard boxes, one of which is open and visibly has $1000 in it. You don’t shout your intention to the sky, you just take whatever boxes you like. The reasonable thing to do is open box B; if it is empty, take box A too; if it is full of money, heck, take box A too. They’re boxes, they can’t stop you. But that logic makes you a two-boxer, so if Omega anticipates it, and Omega does, B will be empty. You definitely need to pre-commit to taking only B. Assume you have, and you open B, and B has $1,000,000. You win! Now what do you do? A is just sitting there with $1000 in it. You already have your million. You even took it out of the box, in case the box disintegrates. Do you literally walk away from $1000, on the belief that Omega has some hidden trick to retroactively make B empty? The rule was not that the money would go away if you took both, the rule is that B would be empty. B was not empty. A is still there. You already won for being a one-boxer, does anything stop you from being a two-boxer and winning the bonus $1000?