by NickBostrom (Author)
Anthropic 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.
Format: Paperback
Pages: 244
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 21 Jun 2010
ISBN 10: 0415883946
ISBN 13: 9780415883948
From traffic analysis via a many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics and the problem of the fine-tuning of the universe to the purely philosophical problems of the Doomsday argument and the Sleeping Beauty problem, Bostrom succeeds in shining a new and interesting light on all of these issues. --Wouter Meijs
Bostrom presents a highly readable and widely relevant work which can be warmly recommended to everyone in philosophy of science. --Christian Wuthrich, Philosophy of Science
Probably the worst thing one can say about this book is that it is too short....Anthropic Bias is a wonderful achievement, which should find place on the shelf of every serious student of modern philosophy of science, epistemology, and cosmology. --Milan Cirkovic, Foundations of Science
Anthropic Bias is a synthesis of some of the most interesting and important ideas to emerge from discussion of cosmic fine-tuning, the anthropic principle, and the Doomsday Argument. It deserves a place on the shelves of epistemologists and philosophers of science, as well as specialists interested in the topics just mentioned. --Neil Manson, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews