Ration card
A monthly allowance of interruptions, visible on the lock screen.
Silence credits
Unused quiet that can be saved or given to someone else.
Emergency channel
The only line no company can pay to enter.
Attention treated as a shared resource: every citizen gets a monthly allowance of interruptions, and apps have to bid for it.
The provocation
We regulate noise in cities and water in droughts, but not the interruptions that reach us hundreds of times a day. The Quiet Hours Bureau treats attention as a public resource that can run out.
How it would work
Every resident receives a monthly ration of notifications. Apps must spend credits to interrupt you, and unused silence can be saved or donated to someone who is burning out. Emergencies travel on a separate channel that no app can buy.
The question
Would we feel protected or patronised? And who decides what counts as an emergency?