Workshop on the Paradox of Orientation

• Friday, March 28, 2025

• 12:00 PM — 5:30 PM

Dr. Timothy Schoettle will present his research on the problem that oriention poses for information theory.

Dr. Nicholas Sooy of Fordham University, Dr. Melissa Fusco of Columbia University, and Dr. Andy Egan of Rutgers University respond.

Abstract: Information is commonly defined as a reduction in uncertainty about which epistemically possible situation is actual. This paper argues that, in certain cases, the set of counterfactual possibilities considered epistemically possible during an inquiry can depend on the order in which information is acquired—a finding that contradicts a key principle of information theory. We will examine the case of Melissa, who wakes with amnesia on both a Thursday and a Saturday. We will see that what is epistemically possible for Mellissa to discover about the present day varies depending on whether she first learns about the day through tenseless descriptions or through firsthand experience