Anthropic bias : observation selection effects in science and philosophy / Nick Bostrom.
نوع المادة : نصالسلاسل:Studies in philosophy (New York, N.Y.)الناشر:New York : Routledge, 2010وصف:xiii, 224 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmنوع المحتوى:- text
- unmediated
- volume
- 0415938589
- 9780415883948 (pbk)
- BD241 B657 2010
نوع المادة | المكتبة الحالية | رقم الطلب | رقم النسخة | حالة | تاريخ الإستحقاق | الباركود | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
كتاب | UAE Federation Library | مكتبة اتحاد الإمارات General Collection | المجموعات العامة | BD241 B657 2010 (إستعراض الرف(يفتح أدناه)) | C.1 | Library Use Only | داخل المكتبة فقط | 30010011319347 | ||
كتاب | UAE Federation Library | مكتبة اتحاد الإمارات General Collection | المجموعات العامة | BD241 B657 2010 (إستعراض الرف(يفتح أدناه)) | C.2 | المتاح | 30010011319348 |
"First published in 2002. Transferred to Digital Printing 2010."--T.p. verso of paperback edition.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 207-217) and index.
Bias explores how to reason when you suspect that your evidence is biased by "observation selection effects"--that is, evidence that has been filtered by the precondition that there be some suitably positioned observer to "have" the evidence. This conundrum--sometimes alluded to as "the anthropic principle," "self-locating belief," or "indexical information"--turns out to be a surprisingly perplexing and intellectually stimulating challenge, one abounding with important implications for many areas in science and philosophy. There are the philosophical thought experiments and paradoxes: the Doomsday Argument; Sleeping Beauty; the Presumptuous Philosopher; Adam & Eve; the Absent-Minded Driver; the Shooting Room. And there are the applications in contemporary science: cosmology ("How many universes are there?", "Why does the universe appear fine-tuned for life?"); evolutionary theory ("How improbable was the evolution of intelligent life on our planet?"); the problem of time's arrow ("Can it be given a thermodynamic explanation?"); quantum physics ("How can the many-worlds theory be tested?"); game-theory problems with imperfect recall ("How to model them?"); even traffic analysis ("Why is the 'next lane' faster?"). Anthropic Bias argues that the same principles are at work across all these domains. And it offers a synthesis: a mathematically explicit theory of observation selection effects that attempts to meet scientific needs while steering clear of philosophical paradox.