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Soylent Month Three

robrhinehart.com

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Re: Soylent Month Three

#31

Post by DanBC »

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…

> if he's created something that is truly capable of sustaining health for the lifetime of a person he should be rewarded

Why? The world isn't short of food. Food is just poorly distributed, or contaminated, or with insufficient micronutrients. None of those problems are solved by this type of feed.

Sometimes there's a need for crisis feeding of a population - during a famine or feeding lots of people in a evacuee camp or somesuch. Again, this feed is of minor use there.

I guess he's having fun doing this stuff, but it's of no use to wider society. Especially because complete liquid feed of high quality already exists, made by different companies and subject to very high levels of quality assurance.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#32

Post by Cthulhu_ »

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.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#33

Post by DanielStraight »

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…

Indeed. To sum up some of the basic issues with his research so far:

Sample size is 1.

He's still eating, just much less often. Some nutrients are only required in very small amounts, which he may still be getting from his occasional meal.

Three months is a very short time frame on which to evaluate a diet. Even something as simple and well-understood as scurvy can take three months to develop. In other words, he could have forgotten something as basic as Vitamin C and still lived this long.

He has something to gain (even if just recognition) from this diet working. He also wants it to work. The effects he reports could be psychosomatic.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#34

Post by huhtenberg »

zeteo wrote: post #19
huhtenberg wrote: post #2

At the risk of stating the obvious - this is all good and the experiment he's running is very interesting, but - no. I really like eating tasty food. Not for the nutrients, but for the experience. Similarly to how I really like sleeping in a comfortable bed and taking a hot shower daily even though, technically, I can rest as well on a bare floor and shower once a week. To each his own, but some things are just too u…

"This automobile business is all good and interesting, but - no. I really like riding in a horse buggy. Not for the speed, but for the experience. Similarly to how I really like candle light and wearing a top hat even though, technically, I could do as well with a baseball cap. To each his own, but some things are just too unorthodox."

You are very forward thinking. Soylent is in the aisle one.

Comfort and pleasure are subjective irrational metrics that have a lot of inertia, but that change with time. I'm sure it's plausible that people would love soylent just as much as a freshly baked croissant, but it takes time. The way things stand right now, soylent solves a problem that few people have and it comes at a price that is awful. So, yeah, it's unorthodox.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#36

Post by chc »

huhtenberg wrote: post #24
aprescott wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This seems to be a common complaint, and the response seems to frequently be: you don't need to replace all your food intake. 50% of the time you eat you might find it tedious and boring, so you can leave the other 50% for pleasurable eating and cooking or whatever else you enjoy about non-clinical cuisine!

> 50% of the time you eat you might find it tedious and boring - I hate cats. All that fur, the smell... - Oh, you just don't know a good recipe Learn to cook, damn it :)

Unfortunately, learning to cook doesn't make it not tedious and boring if all you want is to get something in your belly and move on to the night's activity.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#37

Post by [deleted] »

zeteo wrote: post #19
huhtenberg wrote: post #2

At the risk of stating the obvious - this is all good and the experiment he's running is very interesting, but - no. I really like eating tasty food. Not for the nutrients, but for the experience. Similarly to how I really like sleeping in a comfortable bed and taking a hot shower daily even though, technically, I can rest as well on a bare floor and shower once a week. To each his own, but some things are just too u…

"This automobile business is all good and interesting, but - no. I really like riding in a horse buggy. Not for the speed, but for the experience. Similarly to how I really like candle light and wearing a top hat even though, technically, I could do as well with a baseball cap. To each his own, but some things are just too unorthodox."

[deleted]

Re: Soylent Month Three

#38

Post by huhtenberg »

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.

Consider SlimFast. Same sh#t, but in strawberry flavor.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#39

Post by mcguire »

abstractbill wrote: post #10
theyshookhands wrote: post #3

> No one in the United States plows fields or hammers steel. Wow. Talk about being disconnected from reality.

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.

Re: Soylent Month Three

#40

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]
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