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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 th

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 unorthodox.

Jacob4u2 14y ago
I don't think that's a fair comparison. What if sleeping on the floor and not showering made you think better and your body healthier? It's not simply a privation technique, he seems to be doing it to hack his body for better performance. Although kind of anecdotal evidence, the article mentions several mood and energy changes when not on the soylent diet (I think those things could just as likely be a change in environment/routine though).
- corresation 14y ago
  What if sleeping on the floor and not showering made you think better and your body healthier? There is almost certainly someone, somewhere, claiming that sleeping on the floor and/or not showering makes you think better and your body healthier ("The Cave Man Sleep Technique....we didn't evolve in cushy beds now did we?") 99% of these sorts of stories are outrageous pseudo-science looking for an easy fix. Mood/energy changes from diet are interesting reading, but hold astonishingly little value because of the Hawthorne effect, and the simple reality that again people want easy fixes: His description of the perilous decline of his mental capacities when he regressed to normal food sounds like the standard nonsense you hear from people pushing energy bracelets. Like the GP, food is one of the glorious luxuries of life. Next he'll be chemically castrating himself to save the annoying time waste of sexual congress.
  - Jacob4u2 14y ago
    Like the GP, food is one of the glorious luxuries of life. The great thing about having values is that each person can value what she/he wants. You and GP value food, soylent green dude seems to value experimenting and optimizing his body/brain with food (lack/substitution of food?). I'm not hating on either one of your values, but pretty much everyone thinks "food is good" (to put it simply) so that isn't really gonna pique everyones interest like soylent green guy over there.
  - bjourne 14y ago
    > There is almost certainly someone, somewhere, claiming that sleeping on the floor and/or not showering makes you think better and your body healthier ("The Cave Man Sleep Technique....we didn't evolve in cushy beds now did we?") On the internet, of course there is :) http://www.paleodietandliving.com/paleo-living/sleep/sleep-which-surface-is-best/ http://www.paleodietandliving.com/paleo-living/sleep/sleep-w... Oh and showering to often is linked with everything from fungal infections, dandrufs, psoriasis and acne. Definitely not healthy according to lots of lifestyle strategists out there.
- huhtenberg 14y ago
  What-if I'd exercise and drink less coffee? It would help me both feel and sleep better. Am I doing either? You bet I don't. Point being that people derive pleasure from things that aren't rational, so rationalizing a soylent diet ain't going do a thing to facilitate its adoption (which was iirc one of his stated goals). It's a truly interesting experiment, but it's from the same category as a polyphasic sleep.
aprescott 14y ago
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!
- huhtenberg 14y ago
  > 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 :)
  - chc 14y ago
    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.
  - yew 14y ago
    I know how to cook, but don't often have time to cook. I don't even always have access to a kitchen! I used to have more time, and might again in the future - and if that happens, I'll go back to spending a few hours preparing dinner. Until then, I'd absolutely love to be able to eat a magic nutrition pill instead of grabbing a badly-made sandwich from the nearest shop. Especially if it's cheaper, too.
- ImprovedSilence 14y ago
  Finally, someone else gets it! This drink has the total package, much more so than any ensure or power bar. If I could wipe out breakfast and lunch, and enjoy normal dinners, and be healtheir, hell yeah. or skip lunch, and eat a light dinner, and a glass of solyent in hte evening, money. You don't need to go whole hog on this, but it's a fantastic idea to try to optimise you nutrient intake regardless. Plus ease and connivence, win win win.
willholloway 14y ago
I created my own version of soylent (primarily made of a combo of hemp and whey protein powder, canola oil and vitamins, chocolate flavored and sweetned with sucralose and stevia) because I liked the idea so much. Its a great tasting chocolate shake and I look forward to each one. A liquid shake lunch doesn't have to taste bad.
fusiongyro 14y ago
He addressed this point in the interview posted a month or two ago. He compared it to going to the movies. You can love movies without wanting to go see one three times a day. He still eats real meals occasionally.
zeteo 14y ago
"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."
- huhtenberg 14y ago
  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.
  - zeteo 14y ago
    Even freshly baked croissants were once an odd novelty.
    - adambard 14y ago
      I encourage you to research what a croissant is and then find and devour one. This comment makes me feel like you're missing out on that.
      - deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
      - XorNot 14y ago
        A croissant is also about the most amount of butter you can possibly fit into a pastry.
        kerno 14y ago
        This should be the OED definition.
mistercow 14y ago
I really like eating out at restaurants, but I mostly eat at home, and even if I could afford to eat out every meal, I wouldn't. There's no incompatibility with enjoying one thing while mostly choosing to do another.
nathan_f77 14y ago
I think you are missing the point. Rob is using this as a replacement for boring food. The same stuff you eat every day for breakfast and lunch. When he does choose to eat a tasty meal with friends or family, I think those meals would be even more delicious.
pbreit 14y ago
You might not have read the whole post but the OP mentions that he's now enjoying the regular food experience more than ever.

Jacob4u2 14y ago

I don't think that's a fair comparison. What if sleeping on the floor and not showering made you think better and your body healthier? It's not simply a privation technique, he seems to be doing it to hack his body for better performance. Although kind of anecdotal evidence, the article mentions several mood and energy changes when not on the soylent diet (I think those things could just as likely be a change in environment/routine though).

corresation 14y ago
What if sleeping on the floor and not showering made you think better and your body healthier? There is almost certainly someone, somewhere, claiming that sleeping on the floor and/or not showering makes you think better and your body healthier ("The Cave Man Sleep Technique....we didn't evolve in cushy beds now did we?") 99% of these sorts of stories are outrageous pseudo-science looking for an easy fix. Mood/energy changes from diet are interesting reading, but hold astonishingly little value because of the Hawthorne effect, and the simple reality that again people want easy fixes: His description of the perilous decline of his mental capacities when he regressed to normal food sounds like the standard nonsense you hear from people pushing energy bracelets. Like the GP, food is one of the glorious luxuries of life. Next he'll be chemically castrating himself to save the annoying time waste of sexual congress.
- Jacob4u2 14y ago
  Like the GP, food is one of the glorious luxuries of life. The great thing about having values is that each person can value what she/he wants. You and GP value food, soylent green dude seems to value experimenting and optimizing his body/brain with food (lack/substitution of food?). I'm not hating on either one of your values, but pretty much everyone thinks "food is good" (to put it simply) so that isn't really gonna pique everyones interest like soylent green guy over there.
- bjourne 14y ago
  > There is almost certainly someone, somewhere, claiming that sleeping on the floor and/or not showering makes you think better and your body healthier ("The Cave Man Sleep Technique....we didn't evolve in cushy beds now did we?") On the internet, of course there is :) http://www.paleodietandliving.com/paleo-living/sleep/sleep-which-surface-is-best/ http://www.paleodietandliving.com/paleo-living/sleep/sleep-w... Oh and showering to often is linked with everything from fungal infections, dandrufs, psoriasis and acne. Definitely not healthy according to lots of lifestyle strategists out there.
huhtenberg 14y ago
What-if I'd exercise and drink less coffee? It would help me both feel and sleep better. Am I doing either? You bet I don't. Point being that people derive pleasure from things that aren't rational, so rationalizing a soylent diet ain't going do a thing to facilitate its adoption (which was iirc one of his stated goals). It's a truly interesting experiment, but it's from the same category as a polyphasic sleep.

aprescott 14y ago

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!

huhtenberg 14y ago
> 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 :)
- chc 14y ago
  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.
- yew 14y ago
  I know how to cook, but don't often have time to cook. I don't even always have access to a kitchen! I used to have more time, and might again in the future - and if that happens, I'll go back to spending a few hours preparing dinner. Until then, I'd absolutely love to be able to eat a magic nutrition pill instead of grabbing a badly-made sandwich from the nearest shop. Especially if it's cheaper, too.
ImprovedSilence 14y ago
Finally, someone else gets it! This drink has the total package, much more so than any ensure or power bar. If I could wipe out breakfast and lunch, and enjoy normal dinners, and be healtheir, hell yeah. or skip lunch, and eat a light dinner, and a glass of solyent in hte evening, money. You don't need to go whole hog on this, but it's a fantastic idea to try to optimise you nutrient intake regardless. Plus ease and connivence, win win win.

willholloway 14y ago

I created my own version of soylent (primarily made of a combo of hemp and whey protein powder, canola oil and vitamins, chocolate flavored and sweetned with sucralose and stevia) because I liked the idea so much. Its a great tasting chocolate shake and I look forward to each one. A liquid shake lunch doesn't have to taste bad.

fusiongyro 14y ago

He addressed this point in the interview posted a month or two ago. He compared it to going to the movies. You can love movies without wanting to go see one three times a day. He still eats real meals occasionally.

zeteo 14y ago

"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."

huhtenberg 14y ago
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.
- zeteo 14y ago
  Even freshly baked croissants were once an odd novelty.
  - adambard 14y ago
    I encourage you to research what a croissant is and then find and devour one. This comment makes me feel like you're missing out on that.
    - deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    - XorNot 14y ago
      A croissant is also about the most amount of butter you can possibly fit into a pastry.
      - kerno 14y ago
        This should be the OED definition.

mistercow 14y ago

I really like eating out at restaurants, but I mostly eat at home, and even if I could afford to eat out every meal, I wouldn't. There's no incompatibility with enjoying one thing while mostly choosing to do another.

nathan_f77 14y ago

I think you are missing the point. Rob is using this as a replacement for boring food. The same stuff you eat every day for breakfast and lunch. When he does choose to eat a tasty meal with friends or family, I think those meals would be even more delicious.

pbreit 14y ago

You might not have read the whole post but the OP mentions that he's now enjoying the regular food experience more than ever.