Spot on. I don't know why we would apply reductionism something as pleasurable and healthful as food.

This is you not looking past your own world view. If you have a healthy and pleasurable relationship with food, great, good for you.

Some of us like food too much, and replacements can help with that. Some people don't care about food, and replacments are just as good to them, but easier.

I drink Soylent because I'm a diabetic. I can have one every morning and know exactly how many carbs I'm getting and exactly how it affects my body. Food being "pleasurable and healthful" is a luxury.

Reductionism is a problem when the system is too complex for you to have modeled all relevant dynamics [1]; it has nothing to do with how healthful or pleasurable something is. If you could model all its dynamics, you could make it more fun and healthy.

[1] which may actually be the case here

Because there is plenty of pleasurable and healthful things in life to do, and different people prioritize them differently.

> I don't know why we would apply reductionism something as pleasurable and healthful as food.

I applaud you for admitting your ignorance. Let me give you some reasons why:

I know a guy who doesn't enjoy eating. For him it's always been a chore. He has a poor sense of smell, it's surely related. It works for him.

I drink soylent as an alternative to eating out on my own, which is an expensive and unhealthy habit I have. It does not replace 1) eating out with friends or 2) cooking at home.

Your original comment is very confusing. It's difficult to tell whether you are blaming Soylent for the onset of depression due to nutritional deficiencies, or whether you Soylent was simply an enabler but not the direct cause.

I apologize, and let me clarify. I don't think Soylent was the cause of any of my problems. I had a problem before I started drinking it, but I had hoped the drink would be beneficial to my life. However, I started to spiral into my problems once again even with Soylent, and I believe that many others who are attempting to solve a personal problem using the drink will also do so.

Thanks for clarifying, that makes sense. I can definitely see Soylent compounding one's problems, if not taken carefully. Kudos for realizing you needed a change.

The comment doesn't claim that it's the cause. It notes that their use of Soylent as a solution was a symptom of a deeper problem.