The state of mind in speech is constantly evolving, especially when one’s mental headspace shapes the layer of speech and thought that emerges almost spontaneously. From the perspective of Psycholinguistics, speech is not merely the expression of thought but part of its formation—an ongoing feedback loop where thinking and speaking co-construct one another. At times, I fall into listless speech, as if I am living within a train of thought—struggling to disembark at each station, attempting to make sense of my utterances. It is as though stepping off at each stop might reveal the direction in which the train is heading. Through the lens of Stream of consciousness, this resembles unfiltered cognition, where thoughts unfold continuously without deliberate structuring. This becomes problematic when I have a destination in mind but have not prepared myself—when I have not even checked whether I boarded the correct train. The train, after all, runs on fixed tracks, much like how language cha...
You can formalize your idea as a simple multi-variable optimization / balance equation that fits nicely into existing frameworks like utility theory or decision theory. --- Define variables Let: = effort exerted to clean oneself = internal (subjective/physiological) feeling of cleanliness = actual (objective) cleanliness level = perceived cleanliness (social/interpersonal) --- Core idea: maximize “cleanliness utility” You’re essentially describing a trade-off, so we can express it as a utility function: U(E) = w_1 I(E) + w_2 A(E) + w_3 P(E) - w_4 E Where: are weights (importance of each factor) are all functions of effort --- Interpretation Increasing effort generally increases: : you feel cleaner : you are cleaner : others perceive you as cleaner But with diminishing returns, e.g.: I'(E), A'(E), P'(E) > 0 \quad \text{and} \quad I''(E), A''(E), P''(E) < 0 And excessive effort has a cost: time, energy, skin damage, etc. --- Optimal c...