ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

No such thing as a free lunch

Imagine you go to school and you have a lunch break. One day, your friend comes up to you and says, "Hey, I have a free lunch for you!" You get excited because you love free stuff, right?

But here's the thing, even though your lunch is free, someone still had to pay for it. Maybe your friend's mom packed extra food that morning and gave it to your friend to share with you. Or maybe the school cafeteria made too much food and didn't want it to go to waste, so they gave it to you for free.

Either way, someone had to spend their time, effort, and money to provide that lunch for you. It may not have cost you anything directly, but it's not truly free.

Now, let's think about this idea in a bigger way. Sometimes people say "there's no such thing as a free lunch" because they're talking about things that seem free but actually have a hidden cost.

For example, imagine you go to a store and they offer you a free toy. It sounds amazing, right? But when you look closely, you see that to get the free toy, you need to buy a lot of other expensive things first. So the toy isn't really free because you had to spend money on other stuff to get it.

Similarly, sometimes when you watch videos or play games on the internet, you might see ads. These ads might say you can watch or play for free, but they are paid for by companies who want you to buy their products. So, while it didn't cost you money directly, the companies are hoping that you will see their ads and buy something from them later. So, even though you didn't spend money upfront, there is still a cost involved.

The idea of "no such thing as a free lunch" helps us understand that everything in life has a cost, even if it's not always obvious. Whether it's the time, effort, or money of someone else, someone is usually paying for the things we enjoy or benefit from. So, it's important to remember that free things often come with a catch, and it's good to think about who is paying for them.