But while some of the key facets of attention are universal, boredom is not. The experience of boredom is contingent. It is culturally, socially, and institutionally produced. What this also means is that the experience of boredom—when it appears, how important it is, whether it even exists—changes across time and the forms of human social and economic organization. Our age features a set of technologies and social conditions that work together to maximize our boredom if we are not constantly diverted from it.
