Newcomb’s paradox still works if Omega is not infallible, just right a substantial proportion of the time. Between the two extremes you have described, of free choice, unpredictable by Omega, and deterministic absence of choice, lies people’s real psychology.
Just what is my power to sever links of a causal graph that point towards me? If I am faced with a wily salesman, how shall I be sure of making my decision to buy or not by my own values, taking into account what is informative from the salesman, but uninfluenced by his dark arts? Do I even know what my own values are? Do I have values? When QRO (Quite Reliable Omega) faces me, and I choose one box or two, how can I tell whether I really made that decision?
Interactions between people are mostly Newcomb-like. People are always thinking about who the other person is and what they may be thinking, and aiming their words to produce desired results. It is neither easy nor impossible, but a difficult thing, to truly make a decision.
Newcomb’s paradox still works if Omega is not infallible, just right a substantial proportion of the time. Between the two extremes you have described, of free choice, unpredictable by Omega, and deterministic absence of choice, lies people’s real psychology.
Just what is my power to sever links of a causal graph that point towards me? If I am faced with a wily salesman, how shall I be sure of making my decision to buy or not by my own values, taking into account what is informative from the salesman, but uninfluenced by his dark arts? Do I even know what my own values are? Do I have values? When QRO (Quite Reliable Omega) faces me, and I choose one box or two, how can I tell whether I really made that decision?
Interactions between people are mostly Newcomb-like. People are always thinking about who the other person is and what they may be thinking, and aiming their words to produce desired results. It is neither easy nor impossible, but a difficult thing, to truly make a decision.