5 ms·

A lot of things were invented for "lazy" people so they could save time to do other more important things. Like my electric razor, I have my safety razor too,

A lot of things were invented for "lazy" people so they could save time to do other more important things. Like my electric razor, I have my safety razor too, but it's so much faster to use my electric. A coworker has a beard so he can save 5 minutes in the morning, is it lazy to want time to do other things?

woofyman 13y ago
Eating real food is one of life's great pleasures.
- 6d0debc071 13y ago
  -shrug- Don't know what the distribution is, but that varies. Other than not dying, I just don't get what all the fuss is about.
- ncallaway 13y ago
  I agree with this statement, and yet I think ideas like Soylent are great. Why? Because I don't eat quality home-cooked food three meals a day. Often, my breakfasts consist of a store bought English-muffin toasted and coated in peanut butter. I'm not eating that because I get to savor the amazing flavors. I'm eating it because it's: a) quick b) somewhat healthy and c) provides me with a reasonable amount of energy for my morning. Some meals I eat for the enjoyment of the food. Those are meals I wouldn't replace with Soylent. Some meals I eat for the utility that the food provides; I'd happily replace some of those with Soylent.
mortenjorck 13y ago
This to me is the real draw of Soylent: Not subsisting on it for weeks at a time, but rather using it as a "DVR for eating." In this way, Soylent could actually improve one's enjoyment of food by allowing one to focus on eating well only when time allows. Imagine not having to eat most of the time, but always having two hours set aside every Wednesday night to cook a feast.
- jacques_chester 13y ago
  Or you could try different foods. There are probably more distinct dishes to try than can be tasted in a standard human lifetime. Or enough that you might be forced, say, to try something twice in your entire life. Oh noes. And it goes on. Perhaps you really enjoy Caesar salad. I know I do. When I am trialling a new place I will often order the Caesar salad as a reasonably reliable proxy for the quality of the kitchen, because it is a finicky thing to put together and requires the ingredients to be fresh and properly balanced. Over-oily croutons? Bzzt. Stale cos leaves? Bzzt. Swimming in commercial dressing? Bzzt. So if you have a particular favourite dish, you can enjoy the excitement of discovering the different ways different chefs can approach it. Consider the humble BBQ rib. There are a few schools of thought on the simple question of how to apply heat. And then you get into dry rub and wet rub, what herbs, what spices, what order they're applied ... the variety and possibilities are endless. Truly endless. It's like wandering into the library and saying "well, I guess I could walk around the stacks and try the different books that catch my eye. Or I could stare at the 'this page intentionally left blank' in that dot matrix printer manual most days for the rest of my life."
  - mogrim 13y ago
    you... bastard. Did you really have to mention ribs? I'm starving now :(
    - jacques_chester 13y ago
      Sorry.
jacques_chester 13y ago
> A lot of things were invented for "lazy" people so they could save time to do other more important things. Those things were invented to avoid displeasure. Most people find eating pleasurable, it's something they actively seek to do. It's like saying "guys, I've invented a way to have children without that boring orgasm nonsense". For some small segment of the population, that is the best news ever. But I don't seeing it being a break-out hit with the general public.
- nbouscal 13y ago
  No, it's more like if you were forced to have sex three times a day every single day, and most of those times it was with someone you weren't attracted to. Every time I eat fast food or takeout because I'm either too tired from work to cook or don't have enough time to, I feel terrible, I spend too much money, and I damage my body. If I can replace that experience with something reasonably healthful, affordable, and fast, that's a huge win for me. Yes, home-cooked healthful meals are fantastic, and I enjoy cooking and eating them. But be honest, how many people do you know that eat home-cooked healthful meals for every one of their meals? How about for even half of their meals? Some people have that privilege, but I'm not one of them. Soylent is a fantastic alternative.
  - jacques_chester 13y ago
    > Soylent is a fantastic alternative. This is where you lose me. Extending my analogy, you're replacing sex thrice daily with anorgasmic sex, thrice daily. I'm not seeing the upside.
    - nbouscal 13y ago
      Not at all. Say, for example, that I'm replacing fast food. In that scenario Soylent costs less money, takes less time (don't have to go to the fast food place, less time actually eating), is almost certainly healthier, and won't make me feel like crap afterwards. At this point I can't think of any way to continue extending the sex analogy that doesn't get a bit too off-color.

woofyman 13y ago

Eating real food is one of life's great pleasures.

6d0debc071 13y ago
-shrug- Don't know what the distribution is, but that varies. Other than not dying, I just don't get what all the fuss is about.
ncallaway 13y ago
I agree with this statement, and yet I think ideas like Soylent are great. Why? Because I don't eat quality home-cooked food three meals a day. Often, my breakfasts consist of a store bought English-muffin toasted and coated in peanut butter. I'm not eating that because I get to savor the amazing flavors. I'm eating it because it's: a) quick b) somewhat healthy and c) provides me with a reasonable amount of energy for my morning. Some meals I eat for the enjoyment of the food. Those are meals I wouldn't replace with Soylent. Some meals I eat for the utility that the food provides; I'd happily replace some of those with Soylent.

mortenjorck 13y ago

This to me is the real draw of Soylent: Not subsisting on it for weeks at a time, but rather using it as a "DVR for eating." In this way, Soylent could actually improve one's enjoyment of food by allowing one to focus on eating well only when time allows. Imagine not having to eat most of the time, but always having two hours set aside every Wednesday night to cook a feast.

jacques_chester 13y ago
Or you could try different foods. There are probably more distinct dishes to try than can be tasted in a standard human lifetime. Or enough that you might be forced, say, to try something twice in your entire life. Oh noes. And it goes on. Perhaps you really enjoy Caesar salad. I know I do. When I am trialling a new place I will often order the Caesar salad as a reasonably reliable proxy for the quality of the kitchen, because it is a finicky thing to put together and requires the ingredients to be fresh and properly balanced. Over-oily croutons? Bzzt. Stale cos leaves? Bzzt. Swimming in commercial dressing? Bzzt. So if you have a particular favourite dish, you can enjoy the excitement of discovering the different ways different chefs can approach it. Consider the humble BBQ rib. There are a few schools of thought on the simple question of how to apply heat. And then you get into dry rub and wet rub, what herbs, what spices, what order they're applied ... the variety and possibilities are endless. Truly endless. It's like wandering into the library and saying "well, I guess I could walk around the stacks and try the different books that catch my eye. Or I could stare at the 'this page intentionally left blank' in that dot matrix printer manual most days for the rest of my life."
- mogrim 13y ago
  you... bastard. Did you really have to mention ribs? I'm starving now :(
  - jacques_chester 13y ago
    Sorry.

jacques_chester 13y ago

> A lot of things were invented for "lazy" people so they could save time to do other more important things. Those things were invented to avoid displeasure. Most people find eating pleasurable, it's something they actively seek to do. It's like saying "guys, I've invented a way to have children without that boring orgasm nonsense". For some small segment of the population, that is the best news ever. But I don't seeing it being a break-out hit with the general public.

nbouscal 13y ago
No, it's more like if you were forced to have sex three times a day every single day, and most of those times it was with someone you weren't attracted to. Every time I eat fast food or takeout because I'm either too tired from work to cook or don't have enough time to, I feel terrible, I spend too much money, and I damage my body. If I can replace that experience with something reasonably healthful, affordable, and fast, that's a huge win for me. Yes, home-cooked healthful meals are fantastic, and I enjoy cooking and eating them. But be honest, how many people do you know that eat home-cooked healthful meals for every one of their meals? How about for even half of their meals? Some people have that privilege, but I'm not one of them. Soylent is a fantastic alternative.
- jacques_chester 13y ago
  > Soylent is a fantastic alternative. This is where you lose me. Extending my analogy, you're replacing sex thrice daily with anorgasmic sex, thrice daily. I'm not seeing the upside.
  - nbouscal 13y ago
    Not at all. Say, for example, that I'm replacing fast food. In that scenario Soylent costs less money, takes less time (don't have to go to the fast food place, less time actually eating), is almost certainly healthier, and won't make me feel like crap afterwards. At this point I can't think of any way to continue extending the sex analogy that doesn't get a bit too off-color.