Here’s a thought experiment meant to construct a situation where one’s choice would acausally determine larger background facts about the world they’re in, such as physical laws.
Suppose you’re in a world which you correctly believe was created by either an ‘angel’ or a ‘devil’.[1] If created by an angel, it will eventually be filled with happy beings. If created by a devil, it will eventually be without life.
Suppose you’re a superintelligent agent which controls this world from the inside. If you choose to fill it with happy beings, that would mean it was all along created by an angel. If you choose to destroy all life, that would mean it was all along created by a devil. If you wanted to, you could pick which of those larger background facts is true by doing one or the other.
Next, we can modify this thought experiment by replacing the ‘angel’ and ‘devil’ with two sets of physical laws, which either ensure one outcome or another eventually. Then your choice of which outcome to cause would acausally correspond to which of those sets of laws governs the universe you are in.
Here’s a thought experiment meant to construct a situation where one’s choice would acausally determine larger background facts about the world they’re in, such as physical laws.
Suppose you’re in a world which you correctly believe was created by either an ‘angel’ or a ‘devil’.[1] If created by an angel, it will eventually be filled with happy beings. If created by a devil, it will eventually be without life.
Suppose you’re a superintelligent agent which controls this world from the inside. If you choose to fill it with happy beings, that would mean it was all along created by an angel. If you choose to destroy all life, that would mean it was all along created by a devil. If you wanted to, you could pick which of those larger background facts is true by doing one or the other.
Next, we can modify this thought experiment by replacing the ‘angel’ and ‘devil’ with two sets of physical laws, which either ensure one outcome or another eventually. Then your choice of which outcome to cause would acausally correspond to which of those sets of laws governs the universe you are in.
Inspiration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angel_problem