I idolize Scott Hanselman, and I've already mentioned this before. Ramesh Sringeri asks a good question... "Is being a 501 developer, bad?"
The question seems obvious to a terminology that is highly restrictive of the definition of the phenomena it is trying to explain. Perhaps there should be another term for this trend exhibited by many people across various sections; not limited to developers alone. I have worked (still am) with some people who surprise me by the very fact that they possess an ability; almost like Data from Star Trek: TNG, that they can shut off at 5:01. How do they do it? It's a question bearing the same equivalence to me as does Scott Hanselman sleep?
My great friend Raj Shekhar in B'lore always kept saying "I have a life outside work". He always came late and almost always was "out o' the door" the moment the clock stuck 6:30. Yeah, no 9 to 5 for us. But that's the case here in India in case you didn't knew! But did it mean he was shut down until he entered the office the next morning? Never! Even while I'm returning home from work, dodging the traffic, the stray cows & dogs (although much less than; say 2 years ago) over the 1 hour drive on my mobike I'm still juggling ideas & thoughts about something work related (not always exciting) every now and then tossing them among the hundreds of other thoughts in my brain every few minutes. But I've worked with many people and converse with some friends who amaze me with their ability to shut down while on or off the work. And I'm not talking about people who have lost their enthusiasm of the workplace, sure that happens; and is probably the number one reason of the shutdown syndrome. But that's not the way the human brain works, it juggles thoughts around at incredible speeds & numbers when awake. So are they lying? Do they think about things relating to work at a subliminal level?