User DeletedJun 22, 2023

Box A has $1,000,000. Box B is opaque and its contents depend on a machine that predicts the future... (Title has not enough space space, Question is in text below.)

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/125970

Box A has $1,000,000. Box B is opaque and its contents depend on a machine that predicts the future... (Title has not enough space, Question is in text below.) - Divisions by zero

If the machine predicts that you will take both Boxes A and B, Box B will be empty. But if the machine predicts that you will take Box B only, then Box B will contain $1,000,000,000. The machine has already done it’s prediction and the contents of box B has already been set. Which box/boxes do you take? To reiterate, you choices are: -Box A and B -Box B only (“Box A only” is not an option because no one is that stupid lol) Please explain your reasoning. My answer is: ::: spoiler spoiler I mean I’d choose Box B only, I’d just gamble on the machine being right. If the machine is wrong, I’ll break that thing. ::: ----- This is based on Newcomb’s Paradox (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb’s_paradox [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb%27s_paradox]), but I increased the money to make it more interesting.

Show threadautumn

Does the machine know that box is not an option? Thinking that A, A+B, and B are all valid options is something I could see an AI doing.

There also isn't much penalty for taking A+B? You'll always get at least $1M. And if you took only B, the max you could get is $1M.

Jun 23, 2023 at 2:24amWeb
Show threadUser DeletedJun 23, 2023

I think the machine predicts 2 results, either

Box A is taken = True

OR

Box A is taken = False

Something like:

If (Box A Taken = True) {place ($0) in Box B} else {place ($1,000,000,000) in Box B}