Precommitting is something that you can only do before the coin is flipped. That’s what the “pre” means. Omega’s game rewards a precommitment, but Omega is asking for a commitment.
Precommittment does make one boxing on Newcomblike problems a whole lot easier. But it isn’t necessarily required. That’s why Vladimir made an effort to exculde precommitment.
In the example, you have access to information that pre-you doesn’t (the outcome of the flip). If rationalists are supposed to update on new information, then it is irrational for you to behave like pre-you.
I don’t agree. I suggest that pre-you has exactly the same information that you have. The pre-you must be considered to have been given exactly the same inputs as you to the extent that they influence the decision. That is implied by the ability of the Omega to make the accurate prediction that we have been assured he made.
By definition, pre-you only has access to the coin’s probability distribution, while you have access to the result of the coin flip. Surely you don’t mean to say that’s the same thing?
From the perspective of a non-superintelligence, Omega’s prediction abilities are indistinguishable from magic. Human beings can’t tell what they “imply.” Trying to figure out the implications with a primate brain will only get you into a paradox like claiming a fact is the same as a probability distribution. All we can reasonably do is stipulate Omega’s abilities needed to make the problem work and no further.
Precommittment does make one boxing on Newcomblike problems a whole lot easier. But it isn’t necessarily required. That’s why Vladimir made an effort to exculde precommitment.
I don’t agree. I suggest that pre-you has exactly the same information that you have. The pre-you must be considered to have been given exactly the same inputs as you to the extent that they influence the decision. That is implied by the ability of the Omega to make the accurate prediction that we have been assured he made.
By definition, pre-you only has access to the coin’s probability distribution, while you have access to the result of the coin flip. Surely you don’t mean to say that’s the same thing?
From the perspective of a non-superintelligence, Omega’s prediction abilities are indistinguishable from magic. Human beings can’t tell what they “imply.” Trying to figure out the implications with a primate brain will only get you into a paradox like claiming a fact is the same as a probability distribution. All we can reasonably do is stipulate Omega’s abilities needed to make the problem work and no further.