Can I read Anthropic Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy (Studies in Philosophy) on EtoBox?

Anthropic Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy (Studies in Philosophy) by Nick Bostrom is a nonfiction available to read on EtoBox.

What is Anthropic Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy (Studies in Philosophy) about?

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

Who reads Anthropic Bias: Observation Selection Effects in Science and Philosophy (Studies in Philosophy)?

Author

Nick Bostrom

Publisher

Routledge

Published

2002

Language

EN

ISBN

9780203953464

Category

nonfiction

Subjects

Science, Philosophy, Psychology

Rating

3.96 / 5 (38 ratings)

Updated

2026-03-14