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Soylent Month Three

robrhinehart.com

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Re: Soylent Month Three

#51

Post by zeteo »

TheCapn wrote: post #22

"surely we can make food that is tastier, cheaper, and more nutritious than anything that exists naturally." This premise assumes we understand, with no uncertainty, how the human body functions and utilizes nutrients. Since this is still a huge mystery to science (and much of what we "know" currently is just guesswork) any 100% simulated food diet will only prove to be "better" by a stroke of luck. We've seen his po…

>This premise assumes we understand, with no uncertainty, how the human body functions and utilizes nutrients [but] this is still a huge mystery to science

If "no uncertainty" was the golden standard, we'd never do anything new (except perhaps mathematics). Yes, there is uncertainty in what he's doing, as there is always when trying something truly novel. But I'm sure glad someone is making the attempt. Nutrients are not a huge mystery to science - there are entire college courses on biochemistry and such.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#52

Post by scott_s »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #32
webbruce wrote: post #14

"We no longer need big biceps". Well true, unless you want to attract women.

Depends on whether you want to attract women that are into large biceps or those that think men with large biceps are posers spend too much time at the gym.

Luckily, there's a third category of guys who like being fit, and enjoy physical activity in general and strength training specifically.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#53

Post by bjourne »

corresation wrote: post #20
Jacob4u2 wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that's a fair comparison. What if sleeping on the floor and not showering made you think better and your body healthier? It's not simply a privation technique, he seems to be doing it to hack his body for better performance. Although kind of anecdotal evidence, the article mentions several mood and energy changes when not on the soylent diet (I think those things could just as likely be a change in envi…

What if sleeping on the floor and not showering made you think better and your body healthier? There is almost certainly someone, somewhere, claiming that sleeping on the floor and/or not showering makes you think better and your body healthier ("The Cave Man Sleep Technique....we didn't evolve in cushy beds now did we?") 99% of these sorts of stories are outrageous pseudo-science looking for an easy fix. Mood/energy…

> There is almost certainly someone, somewhere, claiming that sleeping on the floor and/or not showering makes you think better and your body healthier ("The Cave Man Sleep Technique....we didn't evolve in cushy beds now did we?")

On the internet, of course there is :) http://www.paleodietandliving.com/paleo-living/sleep/sleep-w...

Oh and showering to often is linked with everything from fungal infections, dandrufs, psoriasis and acne. Definitely not healthy according to lots of lifestyle strategists out there.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#54

Post by apalmer »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #32
webbruce wrote: post #14

"We no longer need big biceps". Well true, unless you want to attract women.

Depends on whether you want to attract women that are into large biceps or those that think men with large biceps are posers spend too much time at the gym.

Isn't it better to attract them all and then pick the ones you want? I am 50 lbs over weight just saying...

Re: Soylent Month Three

#55

Post by epmatsw »

mcguire wrote: post #39
abstractbill wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The implicit "by hand" was pretty obvious to me, fwiw. I don't think that assertion is disconnected from reality at all.

"No one in the United States plows fields or hammers steel [by hand]." Wow, talk about being disconnected from reality.

Genuine question, is there a truly significant portion of American agriculture that is based on plowing by hand? I was under the impression that most food comes from commercial-level farms that use machinery to plow. My dad works on a pretty small farm, and they definitely don't do anything by hand at this point. I suppose that you could be referring to people who garden as a hobby, but I don't know if I'd count that.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#56

Post by tptacek »

zeteo wrote: post #51
TheCapn wrote: post #22

"surely we can make food that is tastier, cheaper, and more nutritious than anything that exists naturally." This premise assumes we understand, with no uncertainty, how the human body functions and utilizes nutrients. Since this is still a huge mystery to science (and much of what we "know" currently is just guesswork) any 100% simulated food diet will only prove to be "better" by a stroke of luck. We've seen his po…

>This premise assumes we understand, with no uncertainty, how the human body functions and utilizes nutrients [but] this is still a huge mystery to science If "no uncertainty" was the golden standard, we'd never do anything new (except perhaps mathematics). Yes, there is uncertainty in what he's doing, as there is always when trying something truly novel. But I'm sure glad someone is making the attempt. Nutrients are…

If you set yourself on fire, your flesh will burn and you will eventually die horribly. It is less clear what happens if you expose yourself to repeated small amounts of radiation. See the problem with your logic?

Re: Soylent Month Three

#57

Post by rdouble »

epmatsw wrote: post #55
mcguire wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"No one in the United States plows fields or hammers steel [by hand]." Wow, talk about being disconnected from reality.

Genuine question, is there a truly significant portion of American agriculture that is based on plowing by hand? I was under the impression that most food comes from commercial-level farms that use machinery to plow. My dad works on a pretty small farm, and they definitely don't do anything by hand at this point. I suppose that you could be referring to people who garden as a hobby, but I don't know if I'd count that…

Plowing is not done by hand but picking is.

Sugar beet field weeding used to be done by teams of migrant workers with handheld hoes. I think they've figured out how to not have the weeds in the first place with better pesticides. Most fruits and vegetables are picked by hand.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#58

Post by zevyoura »

rafski wrote: post #46

I'm amazed with how much response this guy gets. This is nothing new. My mother used Herbalife protein powder back in the 90's and it was packed with nutrients, minerals and vitamins. It was advertised for weight loss but could also be your nutrition base depending on dosage. I am sure they weren't the only company to offer something like this, there must be plenty.

I think a large part of its draw on this site is that he's packaged the ideas from the 'hacker' perspective. It's an interesting thought experiment to think of other slightly dated but mainstream activities could do with a similar treatment.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#59

Post by jasallen »

tolmasky wrote: post #50
jasallen wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think for this parallel to be valid he'd have to be eating McDonalds or what-have-you every day. The point is variety (mostly) ensures we get everything we need from somewhere . I think it's almost assured that in the long run 100% (or so) soylent will turn out to be more detrimental than even the 'average diets' out there. BTW, I'm kinduva healthy eating nut myself, but this just isn't 'healthy eating'.

Right, thats precisely my point: I think you underestimate how many people eat McDonalds or what-have-you every day . The interesting thing about this phenomenon is that I think it takes place all over the spectrum: the poor do it as well as the rich. Perhaps you do not see this as much because you are a self-described health nut (and thus this diet probably isn't for you, the same way an Alienware computer isn't for…

haha, I really hope you are right about the problem space. I'm currently building a company that hopes to solve exactly the "forget about food and then are starving and make a bad decision" problem. Not ready to say more yet, but again, sure hope you're right :-)

Anyway, if it's that thing to have on stand-by, I'm sure its ok, but so is an Ensure, a Balance Bar, a Slim-Fast, etc, so again, no real innovation here.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#60

Post by evgen »

jjcm wrote: post #9

I get lost in my work/play quite a bit and often forget about meals. I'd definitely be interested in trying soylent simply as a meal replacement, especially if ingestion/preparation of it is quick enough not to break my workflow.

You are looking for a product called Ensure. You can find it in every mini-mart in the country. It has actually been scientifically developed and tested as a meal replacement and is based on real research by people who know what they are talking about rather than one guy who is making a lot of guesses...
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