Newcomb's Problem
The boxes are already filled. Does choosing one still change what is in them?
c. 1960 (posed), 1969 (published)10 min read
American theoretical physics
William Newcomb
1927 – 1999
Physicist at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory whose single most lasting contribution to intellectual history was never published. Around 1960 he posed, in private conversation, the decision problem that bears his name. The problem reached a wider audience only when Robert Nozick described it in 1969, crediting Newcomb by name. Newcomb's own views on the correct choice are not on record.