Thinking hard is cheap ∞

“Does Thinking Really Hard Burn More Calories?” Alas, no: Betteridge’s law of headlines applies. I count calories, and I think hard a lot — some days I feel completely exhausted by it — and so I have wondered about this for years. But, alas, I don’t get any energy math bonus for brain strain.

Why not? The brain’s baseline energy consumption is super high, and thinking hard just does not require much extra. Like a sailboat, having a brain is expensive, but using it is relatively cheap.