The article confuses a variety of perspectives. First, how do I, an individual, use convenience in my life, without getting drawn down bad paths? I commute by

The article confuses a variety of perspectives. First, how do I, an individual, use convenience in my life, without getting drawn down bad paths? I commute by a McDonalds on the way home, when I'm hungry and exhausted. Perhaps I make alternatives easy (yummy leftovers I can pop in the microwave), perhaps I fortify myself to resist temptation (eat an apple at my desk so that cheeseburger doesn't seem as tempting), perhaps I remind myself that cooking with my spouse is part of the fun and imagine her smiling as I wield that frying pan. Second, and different, how do I as a benevolent dictator manage convenience for those I'm responsible for? For instance, as a teacher, I want to make certain things easy (access to the right texts and helpful videos) and other things (problem sets) just the right amount of "difficult" to keep students engaged, learning, and successful. We actually know how to do this, in general. Intensive care units are there to make everything "easy" for really sick people, but few people get trapped forever in the ICU. The "tyranny of convenience" is a sexy title, but people always are drawn to what's easier, even before the washing machine arrived. There's probably a general cycle - we go nuts on the easy alternative, and then discover that there's more to life. E.g. "slow food", custom-configured PCs, "back to the land", etc.