The need to name every situation makes daily life cognitively laborious

Evidence

On the other hand, human linguistic ability also causes no end of trouble. Freedom, as everyone is always pointing out, is never easy. Thus, while it may be very nice to be freed from the clutches of simple reactivity, it also makes life more complicated. Since, in order to decide how he is going to act toward some object or event that confronts him, the human has first to name that object or event, to define it, getting through the day proves to be no simple task. If he is going to avoid standing around all the time with his finger in his ear wondering what to do next, he has to become terribly skilled at naming things, and this necessity sets up all kinds of possibilities for misunderstandings, confusions, and errors. — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 88

Categorization

• XREF: Pairs naturally with the reader’s stated interest: this naming-labor is the cognitive machinery behind Simmel’s blasé economy of attention and the fatigue that detachment must defend against.