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Thought we've read it, more or less in its entirely, for the five years of its existence, it occurred to us yesterday that perhaps we've entirely misunderstood the Times Magazine's annual "Year in Ideas" feature.

We've always thought it was devoted to the great new ideas that surfaces during the last year. Or at least to ideas that, if not great — or even if pretty bad — had a big impact on the year. Or stand to have a big impact on next year.

But then we read the entry about "consensual interruptions," and we couldn't figure out why an elaborate system involving an electronic necklace, vibrating rings, and the responsibility for you to touch or not touch your vibrating ring before you friend receives his phone call was possibly preferable to the existing system, in which your friend's phone rings and, if he's busy, he ignores it.

Of course, while we were trying puzzle that out, we finished reading the item, and we learned the system's designer, Stefan Marti, still doesn't think he's solved the problem. You see, apparently when all the appropriate rings have been touched to allow your friend to receive his phone call, Marti still finds the dreaded phone ring to be too intrusive:

Having solved the problem of when phone calls should interrupt us, Marti is now working on how they should do so. Inspired by the observation that the best interruptions are subtle and nonverbal but still somewhat public, he has designed an animatronic squirrel that perches on your shoulder and screens your calls. Instead of your phone ringing, the squirrel simply wakes and begins to blink.

See, what we never before realized is that the Times Mag feature is about the great ideas, the impactful ideas, and, apparently, the totally ridiculous ideas to solve problems that don't exist.

Here's an idea we just got this year: It might be about time for us to quit reading this list so carefully.

Consensual Interruptions [NYT Mag]
Related: The Fifth Annual Year in Ideas [NYT Mag]