Editing Newcomb's paradox (section)

{{short description|Thought experiment}}
{| class="wikitable floatright"
! {{diagonal split header|Actual<br />choice|&nbsp; Predicted<br />choice}}
! A + B<br />(B has $0)
! B<br />(B has $1,000,000)
|-
! A + B
| $1,000 || $1,001,000
|-
! B
| $0 || $1,000,000
|}
In [[philosophy]] and [[mathematics]], '''Newcomb's paradox''', also known as '''Newcomb's problem''', is a [[thought experiment]] involving a game between two players, one of whom is able to predict the future with near-certainty.

Newcomb's paradox was created by [[William Newcomb]] of the [[University of California]]'s [[Lawrence Livermore Laboratory]]. However, it was first analyzed in a philosophy paper by [[Robert Nozick]] in 1969<ref name='nozick'>{{cite book |author=Robert Nozick |title=Essays in Honor of Carl G.&nbsp;Hempel |chapter=Newcomb's Problem and Two Principles of Choice |chapter-url=http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/rjohns/nozick_newcomb.pdf |editor-last=Rescher |editor-first=Nicholas |year=1969 |publisher=Springer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190331225650/http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/rjohns/nozick_newcomb.pdf |archive-date=2019-03-31}}</ref> and appeared in the March 1973 issue of ''[[Scientific American]]'', in [[Martin Gardner]]'s "[[Mathematical Games (column)|Mathematical Games]]".<ref name='sciam'>{{cite journal |journal=Scientific American |author=Gardner, Martin |date=March 1974 |title=Mathematical Games |volume=231 |issue=3 |doi=10.1038/scientificamerican0374-102 |bibcode=1974SciAm.230c.102G |page=102-109}} Reprinted with an addendum and annotated bibliography in his book ''The Colossal Book of Mathematics'' ({{ISBN|0-393-02023-1}}).</ref> Today it is a much debated problem in the philosophical branch of [[decision theory]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Causal Decision Theory |url=http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/decision-causal/ |website=Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy |publisher=The Metaphysics Research Lab, Stanford University |access-date=3 February 2016}}</ref>