Robert Provine, psychology, has an essay in a newly published collection entitled This Will Make You Smarter. The book is the latest in a series by the website Edge.org, which focuses on an annual question posed to today’s leading thinkers. This year’s question was “What scientific concept would improve everybody’s cognitive toolkit? “
This is Provine’s seventh contribution to the series, and his essay is entitled “TANSTAAFL” (“There ain’t no such thing as a free lunch”). It focuses on the fact that everything has its price, a concept relevant to everyday life as well as all sciences. The idea of TANSTAAFL borrows from Robert Heinlein’s science fiction classic, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.”
Contributors to the book include Daniel Kahneman, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Dennett, Sam Harris, Martin Seligman, Martin Rees, Robert Sapolsky, Steve Pinker, Jaron Lanier, V. S. Ramachandran, Lisa Randall, Brian Eno, J.Crain Venter, David Brooks, and others. All of the essays can be read here.
