IMO there’s less to Newcomb’s paradox than meets the eye. It’s basically “A future-predicting being who controls the set of choices could make rational choices look silly by making sure they had bad outcomes”. OK, yes, he could. Surprised?
What I think makes it seem paradoxical is that the paradox both assures us that Omega controls the outcome perfectly, and cues us that this isn’t so (“He’s already left” etc). Once you settle what it’s really saying either way, the rest follows.
IMO there’s less to Newcomb’s paradox than meets the eye. It’s basically “A future-predicting being who controls the set of choices could make rational choices look silly by making sure they had bad outcomes”. OK, yes, he could. Surprised?
What I think makes it seem paradoxical is that the paradox both assures us that Omega controls the outcome perfectly, and cues us that this isn’t so (“He’s already left” etc). Once you settle what it’s really saying either way, the rest follows.