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I find it annoying that whenever Soylent is discussed, people always take such an extreme view of it. Why do so many people frame the discussion with "you will
by zizee 12y ago
I find it annoying that whenever Soylent is discussed, people always take such an extreme view of it. Why do so many people frame the discussion with "you will replace all meals with it".
It's similar to stories about electric cars. Someone will always comment about how electric cars won't work for people who have to drive 500 km non stop on a daily basis, therefore they are doomed to failure.
- corysama 12y agoAgreed. The stated purpose of Soylent is not to replace all meals. It is to be a convenient replacement for inconvenient meals. But, that idea doesn't grab enough attention to sell ad space. Therefore, pretty much every article I've read about Soylent tries to manufacture controversy around the idea of giving up on food entirely in favor of brown paste. That said, when my month's supply arrives, I'm looking forward to giving up food for a month entirely in favor of brown paste. I see it as a fun opportunity for an interesting cleanse --not a permanent lifestyle change. Every report I've read from people trying out a 100% Soylent diet has been consistent: You feel fine. Your jaw gets stiff from underuse (chewing gum is recommended). You poop less and less often. The biggest problem is really social awkwardness. Eating with people is important. It's awkward being the guy at the table with a bottle of brown paste.
- zizee 12y ago> Your jaw gets stiff from underuse I had not heard of this side effect. I would have thought that regular talking would have sufficed. Very interesting!
- hessenwolf 12y agoDo, please, keep us updated on that experiment. I did not even realise that Soylent was an actual product (presumably, not made of people) until I read your comment.
- vidarh 12y ago> Why do so many people frame the discussion with "you will replace all meals with it". Because the original posts about it talked about replacing almost all meals with it, to the extent that it included a description of how replacing almost all meal with it caused Rhinehart to almost stop defecating. And because it's easier to get media interested in a story they can title "The end of food" or "The Man Who Would Make Food Obsolete" (recent Atlantic headline) rather than "Yet another meal replacement". And because a marketing aspect of Soylent is the idea that even if you probably won't replace every meal with it, you can. (For my part I'm interested in it to try replacing some meals - certainly not all - but that angle would certainly make for a whole lot less PR interest)
- BadassFractal 12y agoBecause ideally you could replace all of your meals with it. I'd be happy with not having to have a fridge if all I need is Soylent.
- dagw 12y agoWhy do so many people frame the discussion with "you will replace all meals with it". Wasn't that it's original pitch? I'm pretty sure that when the Soylent guy first started talking about his idea the Unique Selling Point, compared to all the other meal replacement products already out there, was that Soylent would be the first product engineered to completely and permanently replace the need for any other food.
- ghshephard 12y agoIf you read the article, you'll find out that that is precisely what differentiates Soylent from all the many other Liquid Meal replacements. The entire dream of soylent is to free people from recreational food as a requirement.
- DanBC 12y agoBecause it was launched by a bloke replacing all his food with it, and with a bunch of people saying they wanted to replace all their food with it.