Comment by bradfordarner | Hacker News Reader

Comment by bradfordarner | Hacker News Reader

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Why would anyone want to use this?

I'm a maniac about time management and do everything possible to not waste even a moment of the day (e.g. if I'm doing any trivial physical activity, I'll be listening to an audiobook at 2x speed). However, I would never want to get rid of eating. Since marrying a French woman, I've come to understand the importance of enjoying what you are eating...we aren't simply machines that need to be fed.

$4 dollars per meal is expensive!! My wife and I eat for the 2 of us on less than that in a day...and we eat fresh tuna, organic rice and loads of great vegetables. Just walk through the fresh produce section of your local supermarket...the cheapest stuff in the store and the healthiest is in the produce section.

What time has wasted in all of this exposure to inexpensive, healthy nutrition? None.

One of the biggest wastes of time in one's life is being sick and the other is early death. While I can't speak much about the latter, I'm sick once per year at the maximum and I have not had a debilitating sickness for the past 4 years that has prevented me from working, studying or coding for even a moment. I attribute much of this to my wife's refusal to eat food that is crap.

Maybe that is why the French are healthier...they don't try to reinvent the wheel and replace the thousands of healthy, inexpensive and delicious items that already exist for our pleasure...food!!

> Why would anyone want to use this?

I don't usually eat breakfast but I know I should. Usually the reason is that I am not really hungry when I get up or before I leave for work. I could probably eat breakfast later after I get to work but then my choices are not as good/healthy. I usually just skip it. I am going to try this as a breakfast once I get to work.

I usually spend $8-10 a day going to lunch. I could certainly save some money by packing a lunch but I don't do it. So I eat out. I also don't always make the right choices at lunch. I often pick convenient over healthy. And I tend to eat too much of it. I am going to try this as a lunch at work. I think it might help me.

We usually have a decent home cooked meal for dinner at my house so, other than an initial attempt to go a few weeks on 100% Soylent, I am probably not going to have this for dinner very often. It won't really save me time/money as I'll already be cooking for the rest of the family.

So that is why I want to use this.

Your breakfast point and eating out during lunch are exactly my problems too. I'll add to that - when I get home, I am tired and I can either work-out or cook for myself and eat. If I can have soylent, then I can save energy to work-out or even relax on the days I am really tired.

Soylent appears to mostly target the tech crowd, concentrated in SF/NYC. $4/meal is incredibly cheap in those places - raw ingredients of fresh produce will usually cost more than that. Not to mention that not everyone has time to cook.

Its fairly disingenuous to call $4/meal expensive and then spend time cooking - especially after you talk about the importance of not wasting time. You go from valuing your time above all else to claiming that its worth almost nothing.

Great argument! I think you are making a valid point. If I understand your point correctly, it is primarily a question of placing a value on different activities and comparing the price of a Soylent meal to the opportunity cost of lost time.

I agree with you. Hence, the reason that I completely support the idea that someone else may face a situation in which Soylent becomes the most valuable option. Without a doubt, I think it is better to eat a healthy Soylent meal than cheap fast food. While I do think that $4/meal is incredibly cheap for the cities in which I live, Paris and London, we still are able to eat on less than that amount per meal by shopping uniquely in the produce section of the market.

My logical jumping-off point is that healthy eating habits are the most important factor in long-term health, which leads to more time to devote to meaningful activities because of increased life span and a decrease of down-time due to sickness. In addition to the value derived from long-term health, I think there is also a value to be derived from the enjoyment of food and the exposure to a wide variety of culinary-styles. However, that is a valuation that other may not share.

"I'll be listening to an audiobook at 2x speed"

Why would anyone want to do that? For me, if I listen to an audiobook at 2x speed, it saps all enjoyment from it. We're not simply machines that need to consume information, how we consume it is important too.

Only half in jest. To answer your question: for the same reason someone might choose to double the speed of an audiobook.

Well played!!

In fact, I agree with you...I only listen to non-fiction at 2x the speed. Most modern non-fiction has one main point that they stretch out over 200 pages.

I couldn't imagine listening to a novel at double to speed.

Going down the off-topic rabbit hole, but I have found that 1.2x speed makes it sound fairly normal but 20% faster!

I can't tell if this an ad for France or not! First of all, $4 per meal is not that expensive. Are you saying you eat for < $4 a day? Or < $4 per meal per day? Either way, have you ever lived or visited any major American city? $4/meal would be welcome by many people who live in NYC.

The whole point of Soylent is to ENCOURAGE healthier eating. This is a meal replacement with all the vitamins and nutrients you need to live a healthy life. There are plenty of people outside of your worldview who are looking for a $4 meal that takes no thought or preparation time. I don't think Soylent is trying to eradicate home-cooked meals, but they are trying to create a healthy meal supplement for busy people.

It has next to nothing to do with France in and of itself. I'm utilizing a stereotype to make a point.

Yes, I've been living in Paris and London, 2 of the most expensive cities in the world. By the way, I've also lived in Mali, where it was not as easy as one would think to eat for less than $4 per day.

Soylent's tag line is "What if you never had to worry about food again?" If their goal is to focus on healthy eating, then they need to rethink their messaging. The entire message is about the speed of eating. "Eat quick...eat cheaper".

"...never had to worry about food again..." Where in that statement is there any ambiguity about their desire to take market share away from home-cooked meals?

Don't get me wrong, if they can make a business out of it, that is great. However, it strikes me that it would be far more profitable, on an individual level, to buy cheap food from the produce section of a grocery store, and healthier.

Yeah, I live on/near the coast, and locally caught Tuna, on sale, runs 8.99 a lb. Half a pound for two people would ruin your 4 dollar a day budget and that's not even a full meal let alone a day's worth of food.

4 dollars is certainly doable, but it's frugal level here, and lots of beans, rice and lentils, not organic fresh veggies and ahi tuna being a representative meal.

Not everyone is you.

I enjoy a wonderful and varied diet since I moved near the coast in Australia... some days I would just rather not have to eat though (various reasons). For these days, why not use Soylent?

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