"Are you going to purposely malnourish people so that you can see they're malnourished? That's ethically dubious at best."
Yes, that's what Soylent is currently doing. No suprise the founder got bad news from his cardiologist with an earlier version. "Failing" with their product in this case actually means hurting the customers.
There's a difference between knowingly and willingly malnourishing people and doing so out of ignorance. In order to perform a double-blind you have to do the former. The people making Soylent might accidentally do the latter. Supposing the two are the same sets an impossibly high bar.
Furthermore since it's not a double-blind the people who choose to participate go in with the knowledge that it might not be done yet and that they face risks.
I don't really care about this one way or the other; I think Soylent is an interesting idea but I like eating a variety of food so I'm not participating. But I don't think that the people in charge of Soylent are a hair's breadth from war criminals either, ethically.
I definitely believe that the only reason why Soylent is being successful is because of hype. How does the product they are visioning differ from the food replacement given through a feeding tube? Working in a hospital, I have personally witnessed people with swallowing disabilities living on this stuff for more than a decade!
Bear in mind, this is from a year ago, from early in its development. I'm not positive how much of this is inaccurate, but I know that omega-3 and other ingredients were added to round it out. I'd take this article with a grain of salt.
I did some freelancing. A two-week job paid my November bills. It was a good emergency revenue, but it is a palliative solution. It is hard to find such jobs, it is unpredictable and also distracting.
That is what I am doing currently to support my start-up. One steady client that pays well and is willing to work with a somewhat flexible commitment from me at about 10 to 20 hour per week. And with careful spending that will pay bills for my family.
No you are wrong. MRP companies are just more careful regarding marketing. Taking a "failing is ok, we'll fix it later" approach to your own health is a terribly retarded approach. Especially because long term effects can take months and years to manifest (lack of nutrients).
