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Hacker School Soylent

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Re: Hacker School Soylent

#41

Post by Alex3917 »

trcollinson wrote: post #38
run4yourlives wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop Trolling? Not everyone has access to proper ingredients/tools/knowledge that are required for maintaining a proper diet. Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue. The vast majority of food is perishable and does…

Wow, I'm sorry but do you really believe this statement: "Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue." Are you trying to say you have not met any person, ever, who does not have the money or ability to find good, whole…

> There is an entire world outside of the US, with a number of countries having significant economic and food shortages.

Often due to policies of the US or other imperialist nations.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#42

Post by run4yourlives »

trcollinson wrote: post #38
run4yourlives wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop Trolling? Not everyone has access to proper ingredients/tools/knowledge that are required for maintaining a proper diet. Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue. The vast majority of food is perishable and does…

Wow, I'm sorry but do you really believe this statement: "Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue." Are you trying to say you have not met any person, ever, who does not have the money or ability to find good, whole…

However, creating a less expensive, highly nutritious, complete food product that is shelf stable and easily transported would save 10's, maybe 100's, of millions of lives.

No, it would not. All you have done here is display your ignorance of why people around the world are starving.

First, let me separate two distinct categories of person that you use in your comment. On one hand we have the average western lower income person. On the other, we have a "truly poor" third world person that is either on the brink of starvation or whom a proper diet is not guaranteed.

I'll tackle the latter first. To suggest that there is less food produced than is needed to eat globally is simply false. Food production has outpaced population growth. We have more food now (per person) that we have ever had in our history.

So, introducing a new food to market is solving a problem that does not exist. Food security is a political problem, not a scientific one.

As to the former, I'd venture that there there aren't any western adults that don't at least understand that daily McDonald's along with a sedentary lifestyle is not a healthy option. The issue here isn't access, it's personal choice. Buying fast, crappy food is not cheaper than buying wholesome raw ingredients and then taking the time to prepare them. This issue isn't addressed by introducing a powder to encourage the same behaviours that fast food supports. Personal change is just that - change.

Nobody is saving the world here. What Soylent is really is nothing more than extended mental masturbation, of little utility to the masses. Don't convince yourself otherwise.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#43

Post by adamwong246 »

adamwong246 wrote: post #39

So I just wanted to shamelessly self promote something I've been working on. http://soylog-staging.herokuapp.com/recipes/1 This is my RoR apps that I was developing, but which has recently lapsed into inactivity, which allows you to create, modify and fork recipes in a very similar way to github. It will also (soon) allow you to track your usage, supplies and health. But for now, the project is on standby.

And it's crashing. Damn, hold on.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#44

Post by run4yourlives »

trcollinson wrote: post #38
run4yourlives wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stop Trolling? Not everyone has access to proper ingredients/tools/knowledge that are required for maintaining a proper diet. Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue. The vast majority of food is perishable and does…

Wow, I'm sorry but do you really believe this statement: "Actually, everyone does have this. Whether they choose to use it is another story. I've yet to meet a person on this planet though that doesn't know that you can't survive on chocolate and potato chips. The stomach cramps are a pretty good clue." Are you trying to say you have not met any person, ever, who does not have the money or ability to find good, whole…

I'd love to respond, and have, but it seems these days HN doesn't want me to say too much, and for the second time in a week has automatically killed my comment.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#45

Post by camdykeman »

DiegoNolan wrote: post #40
camdykeman wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its not about whether you "like food" or not. • Not everyone has access to proper ingredients/tools/knowledge that are required for maintaining a proper diet. • The vast majority of food is perishable and does not transport/keep/distribute well. • Lots of people like food too much and overindulge. Your analogy of sex would be more appropriate if you made it analogous to sleep. Many people out there love to sleep. But…

I could and would argue that sleeping is a good use of time.

So if starting tomorrow, you knew that your body only required you to sleep for one hour a night to maintain and repair itself instead of 7-8 you would continue sleeping 7-8 simply because you think its a good use of time?

I doubt it.

You might still lay around in bed on your days off, or you might stay in bed to procrastinate when faced with something to do that day, but arguing that it would still be a good use of time is extremely flawed.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#46

Post by DanBC »

colinshark wrote: post #30
DanBC wrote: post #3

The article mentions, many times, the other soylent company. It's true, you can wait for them to ship. But if you're desperate to try a liquid feed there are many brands already in existence. These are produced by multinational companies in quality environments with known, tested, ingredients. Ensure is one well known brand. Fortisip is another. This recipe seems to be carefully worked out - they show the working and…

I think the difference here is that the goal is more ambitious (100% diet replacement). Ensure is explicitly a dietary supplement. The marketing, cost, flavor, and nutrient profile reflect that. It's like wanting to enter a high end auto race and you just buy a sports car off the lot. It will be expensive and slow. The fast cars are custom built because the market is small and the requirements are unique.

Ensure can be a meal replacement. It is a complete food. It is one of the products used to force feed people who are on hunger strike (and also anorexics detained under section of the mental health act in English psychiatric hospitals).

I'm not sure what you mean by the cost, flavour, and nutrient profile. It's a complete food. If you want more calories you use Ensure plus. If you need more protein you use the high protein product. If you want savory versions you use one of the savory varieties - here's chicken (http://www.chemistdirect.co.uk/ensure-plus-savoury-chicken_1...).

The reason Ensure is sweet or highly flavoured is to encourage people to eat - these people are ill and need the nutrition.

A person eating only Ensure is not going to be any iller than someone eating either 'official Soylent' or 'open source Soylent' - and probably not as ill, because Ensure is created by people who know what they're doing, using quality assured ingredients and sealed in suitable packaging. This is important for Soylent to work on - I hope they include good packaging.

All the existing products tell you not to survive on a liquid diet without medical supervision. I take that be be a big sign that living on liquid feed is sub-optimal and needs to be done cautiously. Other people say it's a sign of an industry that can be disrupted.

My posts in this thread are trying quite hard to be constructive. I admit I find it difficult because I have strongly negative opinions about some of the Soylent product.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#47

Post by DanBC »

run4yourlives wrote: post #27

I really don't understand this Soylent nonsense: 1. I like food. The smell, experience and taste. Why in god's name would I eat powder to save myself the "hassle" of eating food? That's like promoting adoption as a method of avoiding the "hassle" of having sex. 2. Why the hell would you associate the brand of a product that you believe is healthy with a movie that is about feeding dead people back to us? That's the f…

Personally, I think Soylent is stupid.

Having said that:

> With like 40% of people too damn fat for their own good, I don't get how anyone sees a positive outcome for them.

So, Fat_Bob is at work. He's made the effort and had a good healthy breakfast. He knows when he goes home that him and his significant other are going to make the effort and eat a healthy dinner. But it's midday, and outside the office is a FatBurger, and opposite them is a GreasyJoes, and they both have special offers if you buy a 64ounce soda. So, Fat_Bob just slurps down a liquid nutrition drink. He knows he's got some kind of useful nutrition from it, and maybe it's enough to ease the cravings while he walks past FatBurger and GreasyJoes to get to the Carrot_Stick_Stall.

At least, I think that's what they're aiming for.

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#48

Post by fudged71 »

DanBC wrote: post #46
colinshark wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the difference here is that the goal is more ambitious (100% diet replacement). Ensure is explicitly a dietary supplement. The marketing, cost, flavor, and nutrient profile reflect that. It's like wanting to enter a high end auto race and you just buy a sports car off the lot. It will be expensive and slow. The fast cars are custom built because the market is small and the requirements are unique.

Ensure can be a meal replacement. It is a complete food. It is one of the products used to force feed people who are on hunger strike (and also anorexics detained under section of the mental health act in English psychiatric hospitals). I'm not sure what you mean by the cost, flavour, and nutrient profile. It's a complete food. If you want more calories you use Ensure plus. If you need more protein you use the high p…

>one of the products used to force feed people who are on hunger strike

Whoa, pardon my ignorance... got a link?

Re: Hacker School Soylent

#50

Post by adamwong246 »

adamwong246 wrote: post #43
adamwong246 wrote: post #39

So I just wanted to shamelessly self promote something I've been working on. http://soylog-staging.herokuapp.com/recipes/1 This is my RoR apps that I was developing, but which has recently lapsed into inactivity, which allows you to create, modify and fork recipes in a very similar way to github. It will also (soon) allow you to track your usage, supplies and health. But for now, the project is on standby.

And it's crashing. Damn, hold on.

it's back up now
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