> But is forcibly blocking this really the ultimate solution? /etc/hosts, Freedom, cubicles, log cabins, monasteries… Don't we just fight a symptom that we shou

> But is forcibly blocking this really the ultimate solution? /etc/hosts, Freedom, cubicles, log cabins, monasteries… Don't we just fight a symptom that we should tackle otherwise? There's probably some evolutionary reason why we're prone to this ("There, a sabretooth tiger!"), but only to a certain point. I think above that, you want to be distracted and thus easily give in to temptation. Precisely what I was thinking reading this article. Despite being a relative early adopter of the ’Net due to my college exposure last millenium, I’ve never really lost my ability to read or focus on a task… if I’m willing to do it. I didn’t feel tempted to follow any of those links in the article, for example. That said, with my recent bout of self-employment, I’ve found David Letterman’s pronouncement that the iPad is the “ultimate in procrastination technology” to be mostly true. However, everytime I let this happen, I conclude that it is a sign of my being afraid or reluctant to do something related to my current task. Once I solve that underlying problem, I get productive again. I think the takeaway from the above is that in recent times, people only seem to be more easily distracted, because, IMHO, that people, for some reason or another, have become more likely to do work or take on tasks that deep down they really don’t want to do. It isn’t just the current recession, but something deep in our hireing practices or job opportunities that is letting humanity down…