Reframing LessWrong-style decision theory as "commitment theory"

According to LessWrong, a philosophical debate about decision theory has hit an impasse. Functional Decision Theory—a LessWrong approach—recommends seemingly absurd choices: taking a box you can see contains a bomb, because a perfect predictor named Omega would have foreseen your decision. LessWrong contributor Elias Schmied proposes reframing this not as pure decision theory, but as 'commitment theory'—focused on precommitting to actions that benefit your past self. He argues this same logic becomes intuitive when you view it as coordinating with earlier versions of yourself rather than making an isolated choice. Same mathematics, different framing.

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