Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's just _food_, it's not like any other food product in modern history was ever extensively tested before it was put in the market as a part of our daily diet.
[deleted]
So is baby formula not food?
Soylent Campaign
301–310 of 608 posts
Re: Soylent Campaign
#302Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's no reason why it wouldn't work. If a multivitamin works then this works too.
> If a multivitamin works then this works too. God, you are just embarrassing yourself now. Please just stop.
Very eloquent arguments, you've thoroughly convinced me.
Re: Soylent Campaign
#303[deleted]
Rather than have everyone in this thread call someone from your list of food scientists at UBC, perhaps you could call one and post the conversation for us. This would be a bit less time consuming for the food scientists.
Re: Soylent Campaign
#304Ok, so just to be clear... this is real? And not an elaborate Charlton Heston joke? Well color me surprised that... they used the name Soylent.
Re: Soylent Campaign
#305Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ad Hominem attacks don't strengthen your argument. From what I can tell, the Soylent team appears to be pursuing their goals in an admirably scientific fashion. Although there's quite a bit of work to do, I recall an article from a couple of days ago on HN that was talking about the wonderful work the big guys are doing. This quote from General Mills is priceless: >In a public comment posted on the FTC website, our f…
> This quote from General Mills is priceless There is a world of difference between "unsafe" and "unhealthy." I am not claiming that frozen dinners are healthy. Far from it - I avoid them like the plague. However, they are not going to land you in the hospital in the short term. > think that there may be some merit to the Soylent team and their claims The fundamental issue is that statements like "there may be some m…
>It is NOT sufficient for trying a radically new diet like this one.
To you. It's your opinion, not mine. You could say "The FDA would strongly condemn something like this" or "I think this is unsafe" but you can't say it is not sufficient for everyone just because you feel that way.
You can't make blanket claims that apply to all of humanity; being an absolutist only works if you're a Sith Lord.
Re: Soylent Campaign
#306It's crazy how strongly people react to the idea of this drink. It contains only ingredients that are found in other nutrients. That means the FDA will probably give it a stamp of approval without even giving it a second thought.
There's this idea that because we have such stringent laws governing our medicine, we probably have such laws governing food too. But the reality of it is that if you take a bunch of ingredients that have already been established in the market and you throw them together you're allowed to call it food and sell it in the supermarkets.
In a macabre way, if this drink _does_ seriously harm someone, and they sue these guys that would actually be a good thing, because these guys are doing nothing different from what the preprocessed food industry is doing. Except that the preprocessed food industry optimizes for minimal ingredient costs and maximal consumability, where Rob is optimizing Soylent for maximal ingredient coverage and minimal consumation need, the exact opposite! We might actually get some sane laws (like the rejected one that said food marketed for children should consist of at least 50% nutrients)
Before you question the integrity of this project, please consider that Rob himself has already been living almost exclusively for 4 months. No that does not mean this product is by all means safe or that you should replicate him without doubt, but it does mean he already put his life on the line for the idea of this product.
That being said, I do find it a bit disconcerting to see that all the cautionary language of his blog is gone in this marketing site. It wasn't a good idea to hire a sales person for this kind of project, he already has more initial backing than he should need in my opinion.
Re: Soylent Campaign
#307[deleted]
Rob has been conducting trials with people for a few months now, and reports there's "appropriate evidence that Soylent is safe, effective, healthy, and delicious." He's been pretty careful about bringing this to market, too; for a long time he hasn't suggested anyone try this and hasn't shared the recipe publicly because he doesn't want anyone without a chemistry/biology background to ingest a bunch of chemicals and…
I suspect we won't get the recipe now either. It's a commercial venture, and more power to him. If this concept proves out, I'm hoping we can make an opensource alternative.
Re: Soylent Campaign
#308Re: Soylent Campaign
#309Startup idea: Soylent Restaurant.
Only one item on the menu. No need for a kitchen or trained chefs. I'll be rich!
Re: Soylent Campaign
#310Earlier quoted context omitted.
Most people would regard riding a horse as a pleasant thing to do in leisure time, but most today would also balk at the idea of having to care, feed, and maintain a horse to get to work every single day. I realize this is anathema (I love food as much as anyone else) but there are moments in my life where I'd like to code or create things rather than worry too much about my next meal.
I'm sorry but I find that a poor example. You have to maintain a car, feed it (oil/diesel/electricity) and care for it (regular washing), otherwise it will go the 'way of the horse' ... I agree with you on your last statement but I don't think soylent is a solution to that problem. I don't think a formula will have the nutritious benefit of a manually prepared fresh meal.
> I don't think soylent is a solution to that problem. I don't think a formula will have the nutritious benefit of a manually prepared fresh meal.
This is a silly thing to say, honestly. It's unscientific in every possible way, and honestly sounds like saying "I don't think there's any way there's not a god" to defend religion.
It's worth giving it a shot, or doing research to prove or disprove it, but wild speculation is not the way to approach this one, imho.