000			02191 a2200229 4500
001			11368
003			IN-BhIIT
005			20260216163803.0
008			260216b |||||||| |||| 00| 0 eng d
020			_a978-0415883948 (pbk.)
040			_aIN-BhIIT
041			_aeng
082			_a121.6 _bBOS/A
100			_aBostrom, Nick _eAuthor _920473
245			_aAnthropic bias : _bobservation selection effects in science amd philosophy / _c Nick Bostrom
260			_broutledge, _c2010. _aNew York :
300			_axiii, 224 p. : _bill. ; _c19 cm.
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references. and index.
520			_aAnthropic 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.
650			_aLimits of Knowledge _927250
942			_cTRB
999			_c15285 _d15285