3 ms·

And I do feel the same about many of the counter arguments I'm seeing about why Soylent is preferable over a healthy, well balanced diet. I really don't even se

And I do feel the same about many of the counter arguments I'm seeing about why Soylent is preferable over a healthy, well balanced diet. I really don't even see cooking vs. not cooking as the most salient topic relative to the potential benefits of Soylent. To me, what's most interesting is Soylent as a marketing challenge. If people can indeed by optimally nourished by something that is more convenient and cheaper than fast food, then it's bound to become more successful and ubiquitous in the long run. It is, at the very least, the same premise of Chipotle's business: offering something conventionally agreed to as healthy food in a convenient manner at roughly the same cost as other fast food franchises. The ideal outcomes are similar too: healthier people are in a much better position to positively contribute to society. Do you think that, given the buttload of nutrients we'll need to be prosperously healthy, a complete food product can be engineered? Perhaps the real question is can it be complete and cheap at the same time... I'm not knowledgeable about nutrition, but if I can directly fund an effort to develop the perfect food, I will. (And have)

jacques_chester 13y ago
Food is generally sold on taste. The old basics of salt, fat and sugar are still going to be what keeps peopl coming back. But marketing-wise, soylent has already proved itself very successful. It's invented a niche that didn't exist and converted consumers to having a "need" of which they were previously unaware. That said, I suspect it'll be a niche market. What's more likely is that soylent will be added to other products. Milkshakes ... with soylent! Steak diane ... with soylent! The classic example is how many obese people discount the calories of "healthy" foods. "Those fruit smoothies don't count, they're healthy". It's a substitution heuristic.

jacques_chester 13y ago

Food is generally sold on taste. The old basics of salt, fat and sugar are still going to be what keeps peopl coming back. But marketing-wise, soylent has already proved itself very successful. It's invented a niche that didn't exist and converted consumers to having a "need" of which they were previously unaware. That said, I suspect it'll be a niche market. What's more likely is that soylent will be added to other products. Milkshakes ... with soylent! Steak diane ... with soylent! The classic example is how many obese people discount the calories of "healthy" foods. "Those fruit smoothies don't count, they're healthy". It's a substitution heuristic.