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I read this initially assuming it to be a clever spoof on the whole startup / crowdsourcing scene, because of the name: pick something that is obviously a joke

by alex_c 13y ago

I read this initially assuming it to be a clever spoof on the whole startup / crowdsourcing scene, because of the name: pick something that is obviously a joke product ("Soylent Green is people!") and run with it - start piling on impressive claims, include startup-y backgrounds for the founders, and be really vague about what the product actually is. Given my initial interpretation, I thought the "Is soylent vegan available yet" FAQ was particularly hilarious. Then I started reading the HN comments, and initially assumed them to be tongue-in-cheek replies running with the joke: the typical "this is why it won't work", the usual "this is why it's a bad idea", the inevitable "it's actually amazing, stop being so negative". But that gradually stopped making sense the further I read, with people appearing to take it way too seriously for a simple spoof. So thanks HN, you've managed to confuse me completely. This might be a sign I've been spending too much time here lately.

ellyagg 13y ago
Yep, I thought it was a joke at first, too. Since the term soylent is widely understood to mean human remains masquerading as food, the name suggests pretense. He wrote: Before I rarely had enough energy to go to the gym, but this day I had plenty so I decided to put the diet to the test. I'd been running off and on for several months, never able to do more than a mile straight, but this day I ran 3.14 miles non-stop. This is an irrational improvement. !! Indeed, it does sound irrational, doesn't it? In fact, whether this is a hint or he's just being cute, I literally don't believe that Soylent caused this uptick in performance. Want to bet on the results of a double blind study? Elsewhere, he said he only needs 1/3 the calories on Soylent, which was explained away by an apologist in the comments as a figure of speech, or perhaps art of rhetoric, but that explanation is contradicted by his precise descriptions elsewhere and worrisome in this context regardless. There were more jokes like that, conveniently allowing its author to laugh at people no matter whether he's being truthful or not. Parts of the campaign are patronizing and condescending and they've shown no desire to fix that aspect, making me more leery due to the immaturity. Should I trust my health to such a cavalier attitude? I lean toward it being legit, but they've got a long ways to go to catch up with the cutting edge of understanding in nutrition science and it's not clear what advantage they'll be able to offer over established meal replacement drinks like Ensure, which most people don't want to drink today. Improved taste? You can get rats to overfeed to fatness on chocolate Ensure. Expertise? No. For personal use, Soylent Orange is more convenient, available today, and safer, IMO: http://lesswrong.com/lw/h2h/i_hate_preparing_food_my_solution/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/h2h/i_hate_preparing_food_my_solutio...
- princess3000 13y ago
  Also notable is that he ran exactly pi miles. e: AND called that an "irrational improvement." That must be a joke or something...
  - d23 13y ago
    Which is an irrational number. This has to be a joke. Edit: Okay, you beat me to it :P Edit 2: Are we the same person?
    - princess3000 13y ago
      Ha, at first I just noticed that he ran exactly 3.14 and thought "well, that number sounds familiar." Then I thought that "irrational" was a strange way to describe running a longer distance than normal and just put the two together... On his blog [1] he talks about running 3.14 constantly, so it's possible that he chooses to run pi miles on purpose regularly. Who knows. [1] (cached) http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kUt_beWntwUJ:robrhinehart.com/%3Fp%3D474+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kUt_beW...
  - Game_Ender 13y ago
    3.11 miles in 5km so maybe he was trying to run a 5k and went a little over?
- gwern 13y ago
  > Want to bet on the results of a double blind study? Unfortunately, I don't think such a study is runnable. How do you blind 'oil-sludge' against 'real food'? That said, randomizable is perfectly doable: Rhinehart could flip a coin each week to decide whether to eat real food or Soylent. I suggested as much on his blog a while ago, but he never responded.
  - ceejayoz 13y ago
    > Unfortunately, I don't think such a study is runnable. How do you blind 'oil-sludge' against 'real food'? If nothing else, it could be compared to something like formula that's used to keep folks on feeding tubes alive.
namwen 13y ago
Yeah, I'm dumbfounded in more ways than one. Here we have a group of young guys supposedly selling a mysterious powder with no ingredients under the name Soylent of all things. Then I come to the comments and virtually no one has questioned this product as even being real and is instead arguing over whether it's a viable business / safe.
wiggins37 13y ago
I had the same thought, I was cracking up reading the website, especially the "testimonials" and the brief FAQ answers. Then I read the comments and had to search for "green" before I found your comment that even suggested it was a joke. I think is all one elaborate joke.
morgante 13y ago
Seriously, this has to be a joke. A very elaborate one, which half of HN is apparently playing along with... I mean, in Soylent Green it's all about "freeing your body" as well.
rspeer 13y ago
I have scrolled through hundreds of apparently dead serious comments to get here. Thank you. I'm just dumbfounded. I can't comprehend what is going on in this comment section. It seems quite clear to me that the HN community is being parodied, and yet either everyone here is so gullible they have never been on the Internet before, or they are dutifully playing their part in the parody.
tripzilch 13y ago
question, has anyone actually seen the stuff? if this turns out to have been an incredibly elaborate hoax, I'm gonna laugh, tip my hat and buy the guy a beer if I ever meet him

by alex_c 13y ago

ellyagg 13y ago

Yep, I thought it was a joke at first, too. Since the term soylent is widely understood to mean human remains masquerading as food, the name suggests pretense. He wrote: Before I rarely had enough energy to go to the gym, but this day I had plenty so I decided to put the diet to the test. I'd been running off and on for several months, never able to do more than a mile straight, but this day I ran 3.14 miles non-stop. This is an irrational improvement. !! Indeed, it does sound irrational, doesn't it? In fact, whether this is a hint or he's just being cute, I literally don't believe that Soylent caused this uptick in performance. Want to bet on the results of a double blind study? Elsewhere, he said he only needs 1/3 the calories on Soylent, which was explained away by an apologist in the comments as a figure of speech, or perhaps art of rhetoric, but that explanation is contradicted by his precise descriptions elsewhere and worrisome in this context regardless. There were more jokes like that, conveniently allowing its author to laugh at people no matter whether he's being truthful or not. Parts of the campaign are patronizing and condescending and they've shown no desire to fix that aspect, making me more leery due to the immaturity. Should I trust my health to such a cavalier attitude? I lean toward it being legit, but they've got a long ways to go to catch up with the cutting edge of understanding in nutrition science and it's not clear what advantage they'll be able to offer over established meal replacement drinks like Ensure, which most people don't want to drink today. Improved taste? You can get rats to overfeed to fatness on chocolate Ensure. Expertise? No. For personal use, Soylent Orange is more convenient, available today, and safer, IMO: http://lesswrong.com/lw/h2h/i_hate_preparing_food_my_solution/ http://lesswrong.com/lw/h2h/i_hate_preparing_food_my_solutio...

princess3000 13y ago
Also notable is that he ran exactly pi miles. e: AND called that an "irrational improvement." That must be a joke or something...
- d23 13y ago
  Which is an irrational number. This has to be a joke. Edit: Okay, you beat me to it :P Edit 2: Are we the same person?
  - princess3000 13y ago
    Ha, at first I just noticed that he ran exactly 3.14 and thought "well, that number sounds familiar." Then I thought that "irrational" was a strange way to describe running a longer distance than normal and just put the two together... On his blog [1] he talks about running 3.14 constantly, so it's possible that he chooses to run pi miles on purpose regularly. Who knows. [1] (cached) http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kUt_beWntwUJ:robrhinehart.com/%3Fp%3D474+&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:kUt_beW...
- Game_Ender 13y ago
  3.11 miles in 5km so maybe he was trying to run a 5k and went a little over?
gwern 13y ago
> Want to bet on the results of a double blind study? Unfortunately, I don't think such a study is runnable. How do you blind 'oil-sludge' against 'real food'? That said, randomizable is perfectly doable: Rhinehart could flip a coin each week to decide whether to eat real food or Soylent. I suggested as much on his blog a while ago, but he never responded.
- ceejayoz 13y ago
  > Unfortunately, I don't think such a study is runnable. How do you blind 'oil-sludge' against 'real food'? If nothing else, it could be compared to something like formula that's used to keep folks on feeding tubes alive.

namwen 13y ago

Yeah, I'm dumbfounded in more ways than one. Here we have a group of young guys supposedly selling a mysterious powder with no ingredients under the name Soylent of all things. Then I come to the comments and virtually no one has questioned this product as even being real and is instead arguing over whether it's a viable business / safe.

wiggins37 13y ago

I had the same thought, I was cracking up reading the website, especially the "testimonials" and the brief FAQ answers. Then I read the comments and had to search for "green" before I found your comment that even suggested it was a joke. I think is all one elaborate joke.

morgante 13y ago

Seriously, this has to be a joke. A very elaborate one, which half of HN is apparently playing along with... I mean, in Soylent Green it's all about "freeing your body" as well.

rspeer 13y ago

I have scrolled through hundreds of apparently dead serious comments to get here. Thank you. I'm just dumbfounded. I can't comprehend what is going on in this comment section. It seems quite clear to me that the HN community is being parodied, and yet either everyone here is so gullible they have never been on the Internet before, or they are dutifully playing their part in the parody.

tripzilch 13y ago

question, has anyone actually seen the stuff? if this turns out to have been an incredibly elaborate hoax, I'm gonna laugh, tip my hat and buy the guy a beer if I ever meet him