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Analysis Of The End Of Food By Hugh Widdicombe

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At the turn of the eighteenth century, agrarian farmers helplessly witnessed the construction of coal-black smokestacks whose gargantuan shadows sharply contrasted the iridescent morning horizon that embraced the rural landscape. As the beasts bellowed, releasing noxious puffs of scorched carbon into the atmosphere, each citizen turned to one another with the stark realization that their natural way of life was about to dramatically change. Indeed, since the revolution of industrialized manufacturing, the discrepancy between natural and synthetic scientific progress is one that has come under heated scientific debate worldwide. Lizzie Widdicombe’s article “The End of Food” chronicles the steady rise of Soylent—an artificial, miracle solution …show more content…

Rhinehart, the creator of Soylent, concocted it in order to diminish the downtime he spent obtaining, consuming, and disposing of meals, thereby effectively augmenting the time he could focus on productive endeavors. As most professions rely on the optimization of time to meet deadlines, Soylent would be ideal to sustain large corporations who require their employees to work perpetually around the clock. By supplying their workers with Soylent, which has all the necessary nourishment, these companies can simultaneously minimize respite and maximize output. Likewise, a similar case could made for students who would obtain more time to study, work, and pursue their interests without interruption. However, without a scheduled break to eagerly look forward to halfway through the workday, psychologically, employees would become apathetic towards their work and may even fall into depression. Widdicombe supports this notion in her article lamenting, “With a bottle of Soylent... time stretches before you, featureless and a little sad”. The unfortunate fact is that while technology is fitted to refine production, people are not designed to labor flawlessly. Psychologist Nathan Kleitman describes the human mind to work on an Ultradian rhythm that devotes the mind’s attention towards a given task for only 90 to 120 minutes before it must take a break. Therefore, removing coffee or lunch breaks from the working world may ironically decrease productivity in the long run. Herein lies one of Soylent’s design flaws; Soylent intends to optimize human beings who are innately

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