What's in the BOX?

What's in the BOX? is the 307th episode of the Very Bad Wizards podcast, released on April 22, 2025.

Show Notes

David and Tamler talk about two famous puzzles that for different reasons have bedeviled the rationalist community – The Monty Hall Problem and Newcomb's "paradox." Why is it so hard for people to see that a 66% chance of winning a car is better than a 33% chance? Why do famous mathematicians struggle with this problem? And David and Tamler split on the Newcomb case – can you guess which one of us is the one boxer? Plus since we're basically a TV recap podcast now, some thoughts on White Lotus Season 3.  The White Lotus [imdb.com] Monty Hall Problem [wikipedia.org] Numberphile on the Monty Hall Problem [youtube.com] Newcomb's "Paradox" [wikipedia.org] Nozick, R. (1969). Newcomb's problem and two principles of choice. In Essays in honor of carl g. hempel: A tribute on the occasion of his sixty-fifth birthday (pp. 114-146). Dordrecht: Springer Netherlands.

• The White Lotus
  
• Monty Hall Problem
  
• Numberphile on the Monty Hall Problem
  
• Newcomb's "Paradox
  
• Newcomb's problem and two principles of choice.