Distraction could be described as a lack of personal presence as perceived by others and possibly by the person herself. The man with his finger in his nose was not completely there. Of course, physically his body was there. After all I could see him. It can't have just been the position of his little finger in relationship to social conventions that convinced me.
Distraction has to do with a deficit in a relationship.
It might be easier to understand the distracted world if we take an example in which the relationship is between two people and not between an individual and the world in general as with the little piggy in the railway station. He can track down information on even the most obscure subjects. We are discussing a new generation of search engines, but he can't remember an important detail he wanted to tell me. His words slow down. There are unusual pauses between sentences.