Earlier quoted context omitted.
The reports so far are that it definitely has an impact on happiness and mental well-being: a positive one.
The reports are mostly involved parties and early adopter types. Not only is there a lot of potential bias involved, but a proper study has all sorts of important elements - double-blindness, valid controls, ethics boards, etc.
How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
211–220 of 297 posts
Re: How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
#212Soylent represents everything I hate about the valley.
Re: How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
#213Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think a lot of software startups do extremely similar things with customer privacy. In fact there are probably places where the security flaws are worse than anything Soylent is doing. That is not to excuse it, more to shed light on the fact that it is much more apparent when they are failing in the food industry.
> In fact there are probably places where the security flaws are worse than anything Soylent is doing. As an experiment, ask people whether they'd rather risk having their credit card number compromised or risk becoming violently ill from a foodborne illness. I bet they won't even ask the odds when they give their answer.
Re: How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
#214Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its funny because we already live in this dystopia and you simply don't notice it because the plastic food we eat "looks real" and "tastes good". What is the difference between the completely artificial hamburger people get at McDonalds and Soylent? The fact that its basically "molded" to look like the real food we used to eat? The reality is that we long ago crossed the line into having a society that mostly eats ab…
I'm not following. In what way is a McDonalds hamburger artificial? It's bread. It's meat. Even if there are mechanically separated parts of the meat, they're still meat. Even if it's as artificial as you say, isn't food that "looks real" and "tastes good" better than food that "looks like deplorable shit" and "tastes like deplorable shit" and is unapologetically named after something horrible from a 1970s dystopian…
Re: How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
#215As a health measure? The market for weight-loss shakes and other dietary solutions is saturated, and most of it appears to be complete shit. Dietary shakes are easy to come by, and are almost universally reviled because they don't work as advertised and taste disgusting.
Is Soylent a supposed to be a remedy for malnutrition? Why is drinking a bunch of vitamins a better option than taking a dietary supplement? How does Soylent account for the fact that nutrient absorption is less efficient in artificial supplements? Why not just eat quality, healthy human food?
But, far and away the worst and most appalling argument is that soylent is "convenient," and that it's beneficial to people who "don't have time to eat." I'm sorry, but if you can't find time to eat human food, the issue is your schedule, not the food. Correct me if I'm wrong, but eating is pretty fucking important. If you are in a position where feeding yourself actual sustenance is inconvenient, then there is a probably a severe deficiency with your schedule and a problem with your priorities.
Re: How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
#216Earlier quoted context omitted.
Its funny because we already live in this dystopia and you simply don't notice it because the plastic food we eat "looks real" and "tastes good". What is the difference between the completely artificial hamburger people get at McDonalds and Soylent? The fact that its basically "molded" to look like the real food we used to eat? The reality is that we long ago crossed the line into having a society that mostly eats ab…
I'm not following. In what way is a McDonalds hamburger artificial? It's bread. It's meat. Even if there are mechanically separated parts of the meat, they're still meat. Even if it's as artificial as you say, isn't food that "looks real" and "tastes good" better than food that "looks like deplorable shit" and "tastes like deplorable shit" and is unapologetically named after something horrible from a 1970s dystopian…
Re: How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
#217Earlier quoted context omitted.
Breaks down and you have no idea how to fix it and have to hand over cash to the guy you bought it from, because your generations of accumulated animal husbandry knowledge is now useless? Does not magically replace itself with newer models like your farm animals did? Introduces new and unexpected dangers like a blade that accidentally cuts off your childs hand, because while you and your children are very familiar wi…
Yes, like I said, I was playing devil's advocate. But I would be willing to bet you own a car and it's a significant part of your lifestyle. And if you don't I'd still take that bet with every adult I talk to and come out ahead. I'm also willing to bet that your car has a negative impact on your health and the environment (from the atmosphere to the planning of your city). My point is that world changing inventions d…
My point, I think, was that even if an idea is good and worth introducing, transitions are hard and shouldn't be handwaved away.
Re: How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
#218Earlier quoted context omitted.
Humans have only eaten grains for the last 10,000 years or so. For the millions of years before that, we evolved on a diet that didn't include grain. Of courses those assertions don't prove anything but they do make me question the wisdom of basing the human diet on grain.
Yes, and I dare say this whole civilization thing is working out pretty well as a result of our switch to grains.
Grains not good for anything except acting as an "energy drink" to fatten up livestock animals. Grains are good food for our good food, at most.
Since all the science points toward grains being bad for humans, present me with any scientific evidence our bodies evolved to eat grains. We don't chew our cud like cows, we have a carnivorous physique and body type...
There is an evolutionary aspect to it that nothing fattens up then kills americans like grain consumption; you guys go right on gulping that stuff down; eventually you'll go extinct because of it, then the rest of us won't have to listen to sick people claiming a grain based diet is healthy.
Re: How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
#219Soylent might, technically, work. It might be safe and healthy, it definitely looks simple and allows you to forget anything related to grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning up afterwards. But thinking about the prospect of the future makes me sick to my stomach. Soylent paints a disgustingly frightening dystopia where humans are fed 100% "correct" food to allow them to continue being cogs in the business machine, n…
Fairly simple you'd think, yet this is the main point that all the detractors seem to have... and it's not something that Soylent is pushing at all.
Re: How I Ate No Food for 30 Days
#220The angry comments in every solyent article are pretty silly imho. You are under no obligation to use it. Those that do are still permitted to dine with family. :/ Any bugs will get worked out over time. These days I usually make a smoothie for a quick breakfast... perhaps some unsweetened almond milk, protein/vitamin powder, ground flax seed, a bit of fruit/veggies, sometimes even a healthy oil. The concept is not t…
> Any bugs will get worked out over time. Meanwhile, they'll still market it as optimized nutrition to put you in perfect shape and fine for everyone even if they have allergies etc etc.