Uploaded May 2018 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

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Newcomb's Problem: it's like "Is a hotdog a sandwich?," but WAY nerdier, with deep implications for rationality.

NOTE: Thanks also to Rob Dufau for his help with this week's episode!

-Links for the Curious-

Newcomb's Problem And Two Principles Of Choice (Nozick, 1969) -
faculty.arts.ubc.ca/rjohns/nozick_newcomb.pdf

“Causal Decision Theory,” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, 2016 - https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/decision-causal/

“Causation in Decision Theory,” by Jim Joyce - blogs.kent.ac.uk/jonw/files/2015/04/Joyce2008.pdf

Some Counterexamples to Causal Decision Theory (Egan, 2006) - andyegan.net/Andy_Egan/Papers_files/nocdt.2006.06.28.pdf

“Newcomb’s problem, expected utility, and dominance,” by Jeff Speaks - https://www3.nd.edu/~jspeaks/courses/2007-8/20229/_HANDOUTS/newcomb.pdf


Newcomb’s Problem & the tragedy of rationality, by Julia Galef - youtube.com/watch?v=2KxJ6eTY9bA

“Decision Theory FAQ,” by lukeprog & crazy88 via LessWrong - lesswrong.com/posts/zEWJBFFMvQ835nq6h/decision-theory-faq

Prisoner’s Dilemma is a Newcomb Problem (Lewis, 1979) - andrewmbailey.com/dkl/Prisoners_Dilemma.pdf