The problem is not everyone has the same needs for solitude. My partner draws a lot and finds it depressing to work on isolation. She frequently shows up in low-key social situations with art equipment and works as she talks.

Newport's message always lands on the people that crave solitude the most. Some people work this way. I tend to work much better alone, distraction-free. But it's a dangerous game to take anecdata that speaks to yourself and extrapolate it out to an entire species with very different societies and cultural contexts.