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Yeah. This pretty much describes my issue with common usages of the term "rationalize" as well most of the comments on this board. It seems people here are calling "rationalize" poor reasoning and simultenously calling rationalize justification provided for action, beliefe, attitude, and conclusion which fulfills an emotional role such as making them not feel guilty, or helping them to avoid aknowleging they violated a value. Thing is... an emotional benefit from a justifcation doesn't mean the justification is false or even insinsere. If "rationalizing" is a "bad process" than fine. Rationalizing is use of logical fallacies. Rationalizing is use of unsound premises. But that's a far cry from the way "rationalizing" tends to be used. "I will eat a piece of cake to raise my energy" is not a bad process either in terms of "fure reason" (classic logic" or in terms of unsound premises. It's just insinsere.
Conflating irrationality with "self deception" here. But you seem to be defining rationality as "utility function" here. How is some idealized idea of "utility function" any different from just "preferences".