PhronesisChronic over-commitment is understood here not as a character flaw or volitional failure but as a dynamical phenomenon: a wrong attractor state into which purposive agents fall when their commitment-generation architecture systematically overrides capacity signals. We introduce a formal displacement framework in which the ground state S^0 represents calibrated purposive allocation—the regime in which an agent's commitments remain commensurate with available cognitive, temporal, and affective capacity.
Displacement D() is defined as the signed distance from S^0 along the commitment-capacity axis, and integrated displacement = D()\,dt tracks cumulative depletion. The wrong attractor W is characterized by a self-reinforcing yes-override loop: social, psychological, and structural pressures systematically suppress the capacity-checking subroutine, driving D() persistently positive and toward critical thresholds.
We present nine formal propositions characterizing ground state stability, attractor geometry, basin depth, trajectory divergence, bifurcation conditions, and return dynamics. We analyze the mechanistic architecture of the inability to decline, examine the geometry of the depletion basin that traps agents once W is entered, and articulate the conditions under which return to S^0 becomes possible.
Connections to burnout, people-pleasing, workaholism, and clinical boundary-setting practice are developed in the Discussion.