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Please stop this culture of insanity, it is destructive. I get it, Soylent is targeting the "100X engineer" crowd who are supposed to be unflappably dedicated

Please stop this culture of insanity, it is destructive. I get it, Soylent is targeting the "100X engineer" crowd who are supposed to be unflappably dedicated near-godlike ubermenschen. I get that people need to telegraph "how busy" they are by constantly talking about it to everyone with ears. I understand that people need to communicate high-value to each other, and do this by referencing how much responsibility they're given professionally or otherwise-- but long before the point of people eating nutrient paste instead of real food, this busyness fetish has gone too far. You don't need to be eating nutrient paste to convince me that you are important at your job and also good at it-- these concepts have nothing to do with each other, and the usage of Soylent as a prop for the persona of "being hardcore" is simply puerile. Nobody in the real world is so "busy" that they can't stop what they are doing for a few minutes and prepare and consume real food in order to meet their body's demands. Even special forces soldiers on combat missions in enemy territory carry food that needs to be quickly prepared, which they can then scarf down. Relatedly, quality food is a big boon for morale-- and Soylent sure aint. I guess if you're a meta-human weirdo who claims to have no inherent desire to consume tasty food and just wants to "get it out of the way", Soylent is for you. I don't believe you actually exist, though. I guess it's possible some brain pathology could cause a lack of desire for food, but come on, go to a doctor instead of eating Soylent. As a parting shot, I'll mention that Soylent probably doesn't have any kind of phytonutrients or anything similar. Soylent also doesn't have any of the numerous pharmacologically active ingredients of common food items-- the effects of not having these may be subtle, but noticeable over time. Look, just go to your local farm stand, and buy some fucking fruits and vegetables. Most of them can even be eaten raw if you're gonna be a jerk about "not being able to cook" or not having enough time.

frewsxcv 11y ago
'Nobody in the real world is so "busy" that they can't stop what they are doing for a few minutes and prepare and consume real food in order to meet their body's demands.' Compare the preparation time for preparing a meal that satisfies oneself nutritionally compared with Soylent. It's not just about spending more time working, it's about having time to do other things like reading or playing music. Also, why are you getting so upset about people who want to eat nutritious meals?
- cryoshon 11y ago
  The median (and correct) response is to read or play music for thirty less minutes to prepare real nutritious food. Come on. Nobody's time at home is factored down to the minute.
vijayr 11y ago
You don't need to be eating nutrient paste to convince me that you are important at your job and also good at it Why at all convince others that we are busy? What is the point of all this?
- cryoshon 11y ago
  It's late capitalism, man. Lots of office conversations are covert attempts to avoid being laid off or similar.
MarcusVorenus 11y ago
I think it's fascinating how hostile some people can get towards Soylent. It's like they think the mere existence of it is an attack to the core of their identity. I wonder if it's just insecurity triggered by people liking something that they don't like or some other type of psychological defense mechanism.
- timr 11y ago
  While you're right that convincing people that they're being stupid is generally a waste of time, it's no more or less a waste of time than posting a comment on the internet wondering why other people post comments on the internet.
- iyn 11y ago
  Very interesting indeed. I guess 2 factors are: * some people don't like change in general, some are afraid of it. This also brings the same question: why? I have no idea, but there are plenty of guesses, e.g: https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang.html https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang.html * some kind of a "bad experience" with Soylent. It can be just an article about "busy people drinking Soylent" which creates negative internal representation of a Soylent as a drink for the crazy, out of this world busy people
- cryoshon 11y ago
  For me, it's hostility toward the race to the bottom and accompanying dehumanization that Soylent is nodding to. I really don't understand people who think positively about Soylent. It's bland nutrient paste, similar to the kind fed to coma patients. How exciting and DISRUPTIVE!!!
  - Kalium 11y ago
    I used Soylent to lose weight. It helped me gain very precise control over caloric intake. You know what? I didn't care that it was a bland nutrient slurry. I cared about the "dehumanizing" control it gave me. I cared about the options it brought to my life. Discovering significant extra time in my day by not cooking 8x a week was a nice bonus. What I'm really seeing in your comments is that you're struggling to understand how someone could think so utterly differently from you.
erikpukinskis 11y ago
You are not accurately describing the complexity of cooking for oneself. This is common amongst people who cook for themselves: you have forgotten just how much skill you bring to bear throughout the week. The first step is not, as you describe, taking a few minutes to prepare food. The first step is buying the raw ingredients. No one will really tell you how to do this. Good home cooks have dozens of menu plans in their head and do quite a complex set of optimization problems to quickly build shopping lists 1-7 times per week. There are some books that will teach you how to do it, but it's not quick. Especially if you are starting from zero. There's also cookware, and if you leave your home you have to transport the food to where you are going or prepare it ahead of time. I think your core assertion—we have the time—is correct. If you have infinite knowledge, you can feed yourself with as little as a few hours work per week. The problem is most people don't have the food knowledge you have. And your glib insults won't change the fact that no one will really help them build that knowledge up to the level it needs to be. If you are willing to pay a premium for fairly low quality food you can use something like Blue Apron. Or you can make a hobby out of learning to cook. But other than that, who is going to help you get there? So unless you can point at someone who will hold peoples' hands while they get to the place you're describing, maybe leave Soylent alone for solving a problem your admonishments don't really help solve.
- cryoshon 11y ago
  Here is a 30 minute plan to feeding yourself for a long time without any real effort: 0. Have transportation (or a nearby store), the ability to boil water, and a large vessel to put water and food into. You may also want a sheltered place to cook/consume the food, though this is not required. 1. Go to the nearest food store. Anything larger than a kiosk will do. 2. Buy bags of rice. Any kind will do. 3. Buy bags of beans. Any kind will do. 3a. Buy lentils or chicken if you want more variety. Any kinds will do. 3b. Buy salt or spices if you like the flavor of salt or spices. Any kind will do. 4. Go home, making sure to take the items you have purchased with you. 4a. Rice and beans are stable at room temperature for a very long time. Do not let them be consumed by pests, however. 5. Throw a few days of consumption worth of those items you purchased into a pot of boiling water. Don't try to boil the bags themselves unless you are really desperate. 6. Boil for a while. 25 minutes will probably do. You can do other stuff during this 25 minutes. You can remove the water afterward if you desire. 6a. This meal is stable at room temperature (23C) for a couple of days time. You will need to find a way of cooling the food to 4C if you wish to keep it longer-- up to 7 days maximum. 7. Now you have a flavorless though quite filling and nutritious meal. It's probably cheaper, more nutritious, and more flavorful than Soylent. You can survive on this for a long, long time. 7a. Don't forget to actually eat the food you have prepared. A utensil such as a fork or spoon may be useful, though not required. Additionally, a smaller secondary vessel such as a bowl may be useful, though not required. 8. Repeat as hungry; return to step 0 if supplies run out. Bam, now nobody has a single excuse to eat Soylent.
nether 11y ago
Everyone seems to think Soylent frees up time for work. That's certainly true for some people, but for me it frees up time to rest. Instead of driving to Chipotle/KFC/In-n-Out I drink Soylent at my desk before lunch break. Then at lunch, I either take a nap at my desk or walk outside. As for morale, I'm sorry but cycling through the same 5 nearby chain restaurants lost all pleasurable appeal years ago for me.
underyx 11y ago
I ate two months' worth of Joylent (a Dutch version of soylent) this year, three weeks consecutively at the longest. I had an amazing time with it: - It was cheaper than what I normally spend on food each day. - The fact that I had no groceries to do, no dishes, and no cooking made my lazy self amazingly happy. - I had a way more balanced diet than I would normally have done and this clearly showed both in my general mood, and also how energetic I was. I haven't been able to wake up in the morning as easily as then ever since. - I also loved the taste! I think it took me no more than 3 servings to just build up a craving for the drinks.
- oliv__ 11y ago
  "I had a way more balanced diet than I would normally have done" That's kinda sad
  - deleted 11y ago
    [deleted]
JohnTHaller 11y ago
Why does every Soylent news story come along with the requisite 'Soylent doesn't make sense to me so it can't make sense for anyone' post? Stop for a moment and remember that everyone's lives, finances, schedules, priorities, etc are different. I use Soylent 1.5 along with my girlfriend. It's a faster, easier, and less expensive way to have breakfast (and sometimes lunch) each day. It's especially handy when funds are tight. It's easier to prepare and far easier to track calories for those of us shedding a few pounds. And it's more complete nutrient-wise than what the majority of Americans ate for breakfast. I don't do it so I can work more 16 hour days changing the world at Hooli. I do it so I can enjoy my life more. It helps me have the funds and the time to relax and enjoy the meals I do prepare or go out for with friends.
cheshire137 11y ago
> I guess if you're a meta-human weirdo who claims to have no inherent desire to consume tasty food and just wants to "get it out of the way", Soylent is for you. I don't believe you actually exist, though. Here I am, right here! 28-year-old woman, just to give some demographic information. I don't like cooking, I don't want to deal with produce that goes bad before I get around to preparing it. Soylent is a lovely time-saver for me. What is with the vehement anti-Soylent crowd who just can't believe some of us have more enjoyable ways to spend our time than cooking, planning meals, preparing ingredients, and grocery shopping?
- DanBC 11y ago
  My vehemence about soylent stems from the blatent lies they told during fundraising. They dangerously and irresponsibly made claims that they shouldn't have, and got away with it.
- dragonwriter 11y ago
  I'm not surprised that there are people that would rather use prepared or quick-mix products than cook on their own. I'm somewhat surprised that, given the vast array of viable prepared and quick-mix meal products, both shakes and otherwise, that have been on the market much longer than Soylent, that so many of those people think Soylent is something revolutionary. Its clearly a triumph of marketing.

frewsxcv 11y ago

'Nobody in the real world is so "busy" that they can't stop what they are doing for a few minutes and prepare and consume real food in order to meet their body's demands.' Compare the preparation time for preparing a meal that satisfies oneself nutritionally compared with Soylent. It's not just about spending more time working, it's about having time to do other things like reading or playing music. Also, why are you getting so upset about people who want to eat nutritious meals?

cryoshon 11y ago
The median (and correct) response is to read or play music for thirty less minutes to prepare real nutritious food. Come on. Nobody's time at home is factored down to the minute.

vijayr 11y ago

You don't need to be eating nutrient paste to convince me that you are important at your job and also good at it Why at all convince others that we are busy? What is the point of all this?

cryoshon 11y ago
It's late capitalism, man. Lots of office conversations are covert attempts to avoid being laid off or similar.

MarcusVorenus 11y ago

I think it's fascinating how hostile some people can get towards Soylent. It's like they think the mere existence of it is an attack to the core of their identity. I wonder if it's just insecurity triggered by people liking something that they don't like or some other type of psychological defense mechanism.

timr 11y ago
While you're right that convincing people that they're being stupid is generally a waste of time, it's no more or less a waste of time than posting a comment on the internet wondering why other people post comments on the internet.
iyn 11y ago
Very interesting indeed. I guess 2 factors are: * some people don't like change in general, some are afraid of it. This also brings the same question: why? I have no idea, but there are plenty of guesses, e.g: https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang.html https://hbr.org/2012/09/ten-reasons-people-resist-chang.html * some kind of a "bad experience" with Soylent. It can be just an article about "busy people drinking Soylent" which creates negative internal representation of a Soylent as a drink for the crazy, out of this world busy people
cryoshon 11y ago
For me, it's hostility toward the race to the bottom and accompanying dehumanization that Soylent is nodding to. I really don't understand people who think positively about Soylent. It's bland nutrient paste, similar to the kind fed to coma patients. How exciting and DISRUPTIVE!!!
- Kalium 11y ago
  I used Soylent to lose weight. It helped me gain very precise control over caloric intake. You know what? I didn't care that it was a bland nutrient slurry. I cared about the "dehumanizing" control it gave me. I cared about the options it brought to my life. Discovering significant extra time in my day by not cooking 8x a week was a nice bonus. What I'm really seeing in your comments is that you're struggling to understand how someone could think so utterly differently from you.

erikpukinskis 11y ago

You are not accurately describing the complexity of cooking for oneself. This is common amongst people who cook for themselves: you have forgotten just how much skill you bring to bear throughout the week. The first step is not, as you describe, taking a few minutes to prepare food. The first step is buying the raw ingredients. No one will really tell you how to do this. Good home cooks have dozens of menu plans in their head and do quite a complex set of optimization problems to quickly build shopping lists 1-7 times per week. There are some books that will teach you how to do it, but it's not quick. Especially if you are starting from zero. There's also cookware, and if you leave your home you have to transport the food to where you are going or prepare it ahead of time. I think your core assertion—we have the time—is correct. If you have infinite knowledge, you can feed yourself with as little as a few hours work per week. The problem is most people don't have the food knowledge you have. And your glib insults won't change the fact that no one will really help them build that knowledge up to the level it needs to be. If you are willing to pay a premium for fairly low quality food you can use something like Blue Apron. Or you can make a hobby out of learning to cook. But other than that, who is going to help you get there? So unless you can point at someone who will hold peoples' hands while they get to the place you're describing, maybe leave Soylent alone for solving a problem your admonishments don't really help solve.

cryoshon 11y ago
Here is a 30 minute plan to feeding yourself for a long time without any real effort: 0. Have transportation (or a nearby store), the ability to boil water, and a large vessel to put water and food into. You may also want a sheltered place to cook/consume the food, though this is not required. 1. Go to the nearest food store. Anything larger than a kiosk will do. 2. Buy bags of rice. Any kind will do. 3. Buy bags of beans. Any kind will do. 3a. Buy lentils or chicken if you want more variety. Any kinds will do. 3b. Buy salt or spices if you like the flavor of salt or spices. Any kind will do. 4. Go home, making sure to take the items you have purchased with you. 4a. Rice and beans are stable at room temperature for a very long time. Do not let them be consumed by pests, however. 5. Throw a few days of consumption worth of those items you purchased into a pot of boiling water. Don't try to boil the bags themselves unless you are really desperate. 6. Boil for a while. 25 minutes will probably do. You can do other stuff during this 25 minutes. You can remove the water afterward if you desire. 6a. This meal is stable at room temperature (23C) for a couple of days time. You will need to find a way of cooling the food to 4C if you wish to keep it longer-- up to 7 days maximum. 7. Now you have a flavorless though quite filling and nutritious meal. It's probably cheaper, more nutritious, and more flavorful than Soylent. You can survive on this for a long, long time. 7a. Don't forget to actually eat the food you have prepared. A utensil such as a fork or spoon may be useful, though not required. Additionally, a smaller secondary vessel such as a bowl may be useful, though not required. 8. Repeat as hungry; return to step 0 if supplies run out. Bam, now nobody has a single excuse to eat Soylent.

nether 11y ago

Everyone seems to think Soylent frees up time for work. That's certainly true for some people, but for me it frees up time to rest. Instead of driving to Chipotle/KFC/In-n-Out I drink Soylent at my desk before lunch break. Then at lunch, I either take a nap at my desk or walk outside. As for morale, I'm sorry but cycling through the same 5 nearby chain restaurants lost all pleasurable appeal years ago for me.

underyx 11y ago

I ate two months' worth of Joylent (a Dutch version of soylent) this year, three weeks consecutively at the longest. I had an amazing time with it: - It was cheaper than what I normally spend on food each day. - The fact that I had no groceries to do, no dishes, and no cooking made my lazy self amazingly happy. - I had a way more balanced diet than I would normally have done and this clearly showed both in my general mood, and also how energetic I was. I haven't been able to wake up in the morning as easily as then ever since. - I also loved the taste! I think it took me no more than 3 servings to just build up a craving for the drinks.

oliv__ 11y ago
"I had a way more balanced diet than I would normally have done" That's kinda sad
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

JohnTHaller 11y ago

Why does every Soylent news story come along with the requisite 'Soylent doesn't make sense to me so it can't make sense for anyone' post? Stop for a moment and remember that everyone's lives, finances, schedules, priorities, etc are different. I use Soylent 1.5 along with my girlfriend. It's a faster, easier, and less expensive way to have breakfast (and sometimes lunch) each day. It's especially handy when funds are tight. It's easier to prepare and far easier to track calories for those of us shedding a few pounds. And it's more complete nutrient-wise than what the majority of Americans ate for breakfast. I don't do it so I can work more 16 hour days changing the world at Hooli. I do it so I can enjoy my life more. It helps me have the funds and the time to relax and enjoy the meals I do prepare or go out for with friends.

cheshire137 11y ago

> I guess if you're a meta-human weirdo who claims to have no inherent desire to consume tasty food and just wants to "get it out of the way", Soylent is for you. I don't believe you actually exist, though. Here I am, right here! 28-year-old woman, just to give some demographic information. I don't like cooking, I don't want to deal with produce that goes bad before I get around to preparing it. Soylent is a lovely time-saver for me. What is with the vehement anti-Soylent crowd who just can't believe some of us have more enjoyable ways to spend our time than cooking, planning meals, preparing ingredients, and grocery shopping?

DanBC 11y ago
My vehemence about soylent stems from the blatent lies they told during fundraising. They dangerously and irresponsibly made claims that they shouldn't have, and got away with it.
dragonwriter 11y ago
I'm not surprised that there are people that would rather use prepared or quick-mix products than cook on their own. I'm somewhat surprised that, given the vast array of viable prepared and quick-mix meal products, both shakes and otherwise, that have been on the market much longer than Soylent, that so many of those people think Soylent is something revolutionary. Its clearly a triumph of marketing.