Analyzing the present state of American life can be as complicated and multifaceted as one likes. One can use the evidence to support just about any interpretation. In essence, however, the condition is pretty straightforward: We’re bored.

We have to be, if "Survivor" passes as entertainment. Don’t get me wrong, throwing as-sorted individuals and personalities together like so many human stew ingredients has its interesting points.

But how many really watch that show for the dynamics of human interaction, as opposed to those who watch it so see who gets a cool million? I have to wonder if I am the only one who has read Lord of the Flies, and remembers what charming, cherubic children did to each other without having big bucks at stake.

"Big Brother" illustrates our societal boredom even better. Those who tune in can see 10 people interacting all the time, in one house, and never miss a beat as cameras roll 24/7. Why, they can even vote on who stays and who goes!

Oh, boy! I can hardly contain myself at the prospect of watching ordinary folks live with other ordinary folks! And I am so grateful that the show’s producers will allow little ol’ me some control over how that house is ordered.

Of course, the network execs want us all to forget that people can "tune in" to a "show" just like "Big Brother" every day. It’s called a family. (Mine’s a sit-com!)

What the non-couch-potato crowd does for yuks betrays a level of boredom so profound that lives are risked and sometimes lost for no greater reason than personal vanity. Skydiving, hang-gliding, white-water rafting, and even the frigid temperatures of Everest are hopelessly passé. Now we have base-jumping, canyoneering and the Hydro-Bronc.

Base-jumping — parachuting off of cliffs that are often not high enough to allow proper deployment of the chute — has never been anything but abysmally stupid. Being somewhat bored myself, I confess that I am tempted to try jumping over waterfalls while affixed to a harness, and that the little neoprene gerbil wheel bouncing down the Animas has definite appeal. However, if anyone ever called me dumber than a box of rocks for trying it, I would have to consider the assessment completely fair.

We’re bored enough to fall for snow jobs, too. Too bored to invest in fixing our problems, we dial our Clairvoyant Buddies, who impart such pearls of wisdom as: "Your husband had an affair, didn’t he?" Or, "Your cat Fluffy ate cat food last night." Never does it occur to those who play 1-900-Bankrupt-Me that these folks are supposed to tell the future.

If current websites are any indication, we have reached a new level of boredom. Thousands of folks who in real life find farm work tedious log in to watch corn grow. What’s next? Www.watchthepaintdry. com?

Apparently, we are also so bored that we have developed a new sport: "court jockeying." This sport is for those who are no longer content with the many courtroom drama shows on television, and who seek to fill their small lives by clogging real courts with frivolous suits. Of these, the hot-coffee-in-the-lap suit is only the worst of a list of laughable examples. Should I perhaps sue Coca-Cola because my copious consumption of its product has led to a large rear end? How about the sun itself, for the emotional suffering and physical pain I endure every time I get a sun burn?