[jacobolus]

It makes sense for an obese person to stop stocking the pantry and refrigerator with ice cream, cookies, chips, and soda. Binge eating and sugar addiction are serious problems, and just blaming people and telling them they have “bad self control” doesn’t really solve anything. Putting dangerous temptation out of reach, however, can have real benefits. (Although usually overeating is also linked to other unrelated stress, so this may mainly be treating a symptom rather than the root cause.)

For the science, some of it quite shocking, check out this great lecture series http://www.youtube.com/course?list=PL4FD135EA45DEEBB6&fe...

This lecture in particular, about rat studies, is amazing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Cli0RJQiPc

[awj]

> It makes sense for an obese person to stop stocking the pantry and refrigerator with ice cream, cookies, chips, and soda.

I would call this "self control", which is exactly what the GP was advocating.

[jacobolus]

Okay. Then by the same token, getting rid of the home internet connection is “self control”. So then what is he complaining about?

[mbell]

The proper analogy to getting rid of the internet connection would be throwing out the refrigerator, the cabinets and every piece of food or food holding device you have.

Of course, you'd be risking dying of hunger to do so, just as you'd be risking intellectual death by cutting off the internet.

[jacobolus]

> risking intellectual death by cutting off the internet

Give me a fucking break. I know many people (even several programmers) without an internet connection at home, and none of them are at any sort of risk of “intellectual death”.

[anthuswilliams]

He still has access to the Internet with his phone and nearby wi-fi networks. It's not like he suddenly became Amish.

[scott_meade]

"intellectual death" is a little hyperbolic, I think. I too know people who spend little to no time on the internet and seem to be quite intellectual, informed, functional, and happy.

It's the people that get their "information" from daily doses of "I saw it on the internet" that worry me, to be honest. Some people I know that spend the most time on the internet seem able to tell you a lot of stuff they read and saw, but are not able to apply much intellect to it.