Boredom is the Struggle to Maintain Attention

"In one classic 1989 experiment, psychologists James Laird and Robin Damrad-Frye of Clark University discovered that very low level distraction such as a quiet television turned on in the next room led participants to describe a listening comprehension task as “boring.” Unaware of what was distracting them, the subjects could find no other explanation for their inattention. But when the TV was blaring, the subjects instead commented that the sound made it impossible to focus. Without any distraction, some students actually said that what they had heard in the comprehension exercise was stimulating. The results thus support the authors’ hypothesis that “the essential behavioral component of boredom is the struggle to maintain attention.”

Lost the source for this, but I thought it worth posting. It ties a few things that I've been interested in together, i.e. Boredom, Depression, Meditation, Hyper-stimulus, Media Bombardment and various other mental effects.

Lack of meaning ---> Ennui

Cheyne says, "A chronic inability to focus on activities may render them effectively meaningless, the researchers surmise. “Attention is the common link between lack of meaning, depression and boredom.”

"People who are predisposed to boredom are more likely to suffer from ills such as depression and drug addiction; they also tend to be socially awkward and poor performers at school or work."