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  • Causation, decision theory, and Bell's theorem: A quantum analogue of the Newcomb problem

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    Cavalcanti137989-Accepted.pdf (332.5Kb)
    File version
    Accepted Manuscript (AM)
    Author(s)
    Cavalcanti, Eric G
    Griffith University Author(s)
    Cavalcanti, Eric G.
    Year published
    2010
    Metadata
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    Abstract
    I apply some of the lessons from quantum theory, in particular from Bell's theorem, to a debate on the foundations of decision theory and causation. By tracing a formal analogy between the basic assumptions of causal decision theory (CDT)-which was developed partly in response to Newcomb's problem-and those of a local hidden variable theory in the context of quantum mechanics, I show that an agent who acts according to CDT and gives any nonzero credence to some possible causal interpretations underlying quantum phenomena should bet against quantum mechanics in some feasible game scenarios involving entangled systems, ...
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    I apply some of the lessons from quantum theory, in particular from Bell's theorem, to a debate on the foundations of decision theory and causation. By tracing a formal analogy between the basic assumptions of causal decision theory (CDT)-which was developed partly in response to Newcomb's problem-and those of a local hidden variable theory in the context of quantum mechanics, I show that an agent who acts according to CDT and gives any nonzero credence to some possible causal interpretations underlying quantum phenomena should bet against quantum mechanics in some feasible game scenarios involving entangled systems, no matter what evidence they acquire. As a consequence, either the most accepted version of decision theory is wrong, or it provides a practical distinction, in terms of the prescribed behaviour of rational agents, between some metaphysical hypotheses regarding the causal structure underlying quantum mechanics.
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    Journal Title
    British Journal for the Philosophy of Science
    Volume
    61
    Issue
    3
    DOI
    https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/axp050
    Copyright Statement
    © 2010 Oxford University Press. This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in British Journal for the Philosophy of Science following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version, Causation, Decision Theory, and Bell’s Theorem: A Quantum Analogue of the Newcomb Problem, British Journal for the Philosophy of Science, 61 (3), pp. 569-597 is available online at: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjps/axp050
    Subject
    Philosophy
    History and philosophy of science
    Foundations of quantum mechanics
    Decision theory
    Publication URI
    http://hdl.handle.net/10072/35774
    Collection
    • Journal articles

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