This is an interesting frame, and spot about the value of mindfulness and daily practice to see these more clearly. I would also consider the aspect of the neither-painful-nor-pleasant feelings, which per the Buddha are associated with the abiding of the fourth jhāna and which one cannot experience and thus have an opportunity to gain wisdom about until the mind keeps cycling through pain resistance and pleasure seeking behavior

You’re welcome! 🙂

You’re welcome. An irrational application of mind implies, scattered thoughts, a fault-finding nature, or a mind that works on assumptions/beliefs. There is another teaching where the Buddha shares the causes that lead to an irrational application of mind as well as antidotes to it: 30 mental qualities that lead to enlightenment, to the arising of the Buddha (AN 10.76).

It is good that you’re reflecting on the teachings to independently verify them. 🙂