Newcomb's Paradox

Newcomb's paradox, named after its creator, physicist William Newcomb, is one of the most widely debated paradoxes of recent times. It was first made popular by Harvard philosopher Robert Nozick. The paradox goes like this:

A highly superior being from another part of the galaxy presents you with two boxes, one open and one closed. In the open box there is a thousand-dollar bill. In the closed box there is either one million dollars or there is nothing. You are to choose between taking both boxes or taking the closed box only. Of course there's a catch.

The being claims that she is able to predict what any human being will decide to do. If she predicted you would take only the closed box, then she placed a million dollars in it. But if she predicted you would take both boxes, she left the closed box empty. Furthermore, she has run this experiment with 9,999 people before, and has been right every time.

Tad Boniecki