When working on a project where I need to collaborate with members of different groups, I often have to send e-mails to them. When I talk to people about this, they often stress the need to e-mail people several times just to get their attention.

Has anyone ever told you this story?:

I sent [someone I know] an e-mail and left them a message twice on their phone, and they haven’t gotten back to me. They’re jerks/I must not be important enough for them.

One symptom of the overcommitted is that there’s not enough time to pay attention to people, as much as one might want to. Combine that with the how being ignored often causes people to feel unimportant or angry, and you have, as a result, a society that’s naturally more pissed-of and unhappy, for no specific reason.