At one level this is an example of the addiction we have to our phones, patting our jacket pockets like the smoker desperately trying to find his pack of Marlboros. But those of us of a certain age remember a similar feeling long before the smartphone: getting to the bathroom with nothing to read, or sitting at the breakfast table before school, bleary-eyed, reading the back of the cereal box because it was the only thing available to occupy your mind. While the state of constant interruption of the attention age may be unwelcome, it grows from a desire that long predates modern life.
