About TANSTAAFL
The origins
The TANSTAAFL acronyme (There Ain’t No Such Thing As A Free Lunch) was popularized by Robert A. Heinlein in his novel Moon Is a Harsh Mistress (1966).
Major part of the book takes place on Moon, where people live in a society with straightforward and transparent rules. Heinlein’s Moon is a harsh place indeed, even breathing will cost you there and it is only natural that people developed a distrust to anyone trying to fool them by offering them something for free.
TANSTAAFL as a blog headline
When a physicist talks about action and reaction, an oriental philosophe about jin and jang, a biologist about evolution, or a hippie about good vibrations, I see only one thing. TANSTAAFL expresses this basic principle in a catchy and easily understandable manner and that’s good enough for me.
When something appears to be free, it usually means I do not understand it well enough. In this blog, I will pick different examples that looks free and I will try to explain what’s the catch. Suggestions are welcome!
Want to contribute?
No problem. TANSTAAFL is too wide for a single person anyway. Just contact me.
