[CrackMonkey] Re: A cool problem

[Seth David Schoen]

Morgan J writes:

> In article <20000213195817.B4625 at zork.net>, Monkey Master wrote:
> >
> >	I figured that I'd do this, originally.
> >
> >	We all agree to answer red.  The first person, upon seeing
> >that all the hats are blue will answer "BLUE!" and hope that everybody
> >gets the hint all the way down the line.  Most people will see many
> >blue hats and probably figure it out.
> 
> Which heads the whole thing in the direction of prisoners dillemma, and
> interesting questions on how smart the adversary is, exactly.

Newcomb!  Newcomb!  Newcomb!

Everyone go out and get a copy of Martin Gardner's _The Unexpected
Hanging: and Other Mathematical Diversions_ and his _Knotted Doughnuts:
and Other Mathematical Entertainments_, and then, if you're so inclined,
Douglas Hofstadter's _Metamagical Themas_, and, while you're at it,
William Poundstone's _Prisoner's Dilemma_, followed closely by his
_Labyrinths of Reason_.

Well, you don't have to.  I'm actually just furthering the "Send a
Bookdealer's Kid to College" conspiracy.

But if you do, you'll emerge some time later with a great understanding
(?) of Newcomb's Paradox, which won't help you at all in trying to answer
this question but will be fun anyway.

The most specific article about Newcomb in any of those books comes
from Robert Nozick (Gardner published Nozick's Newcomb essay in _Knotted
Doughnuts_), and he wrote it just before he published _Anarchy, State,
Utopia_, which might be familiar to some readers of this list (hi, Mike).

-- 
Seth David Schoen <schoen at loyalty.org>  | And do not say, I will study when I
Temp.  http://www.loyalty.org/~schoen/  | have leisure; for perhaps you will
down:  http://www.loyalty.org/   (CAF)  | not have leisure.  -- Pirke Avot 2:5