Isn't this the fault of a bad UI mixed with bad defaults? I'm using the Cookieculler FF addon (https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/cookieculler/) to manage them. Instead of torturing me with a modal popup for every new site I visit, it keeps a list of hosts and cookies and trust status in the background. Using that list to protect important but delete/block all other cookies is quite convenient.
Many people (including myself) would swear by leaving the cookie notification on and confirming every. single. one. of. them.
That has long stopped being feasible and I assume it will be the same with NoScript in a few years.