Nothing I've seen about the Soylent project makes me imagine that its founder lives on quite the same planet inhabited by most other humans. He has an interesting idea and he certainly seems able to execute, at least so far, but I can't help but be a little more skeptical than I would be otherwise; the first time I saw mention of it, it took me a good fifteen minutes to convince myself that it was what it appeared to be, and not a prop for some sort of "alternate reality game". Even now, I still find myself waiting for another shoe to drop.

The name is one of the things I love about it. After all, "Soylent is people" is right on target, in the sense that it's a people product, designed to help people with a food problem.

There isn't one group on the planet that wouldn't benefit from at least a little bit of Soylent at some point in their regular lives.

It doesn't have to replace their family meals, and it doesn't have to replace their social eating.

But it can be their occasional breakfast when they got up a little too late. Or their lunch when they need to run to the post office in their lunch break. Or their "eating at my computer" food when they're busy programming and don't want to order pizza delivery. Or their everyday staple when they're on a budget. Or their emergency food when they've just been hit by a tsunami and the rescue team won't come for days. Or their backpack food when they're on a military mission. Or their one-meal a day when they're in a submarine with tight space issues. Etc. etc. etc.