Personally, the content I'm usually interested in when I visit a page is just the text and images. There are some exceptions, but that's what a whitelist is for. Even if you don't count the numerous security benefits, denying scripts by default has made my websurfing much more enjoyable.
It's a great filter for nonsense. Usually sites that cause problems for NoScript are crap anyways. Not always, but often enough that I see it as a net benefit.