I think he meant that someone else might use it even if it's not worth it to you personally.
If I decide to not do it myself, then of course I'll post the ideas and send friendly emails to the guys at Soylent. But that doesn't seem like a good move while uncertain about whether or not to compete with them.
if I'm reading your earlier comment right, the "work" referred to the recipe rather than the mixing and measuring
The recipe is part of the work, but the larger part of the work in doing it right would be replacing "the" recipe with a system for generating recipes and determining the quality of recipes.
The recipe is part of the work, but the larger part of the work in doing it right would be replacing "the" recipe with a system for generating recipes and determining the quality of recipes.
You can go as meta as you want, as long as the result is still a better recipe I still call it "work for the recipe" ;-)
Rob Rhinehart's food replacement Soylent now has a crowdfunding campaign.
If you're interested in one or more of these benefits, send in some money! There is also a new blog post.