[ExI] Making Rationalizations is Superior to the Alternative

[Damien Broderick]

At 10:32 PM 4/14/2009 -0700, Lee wrote:

>>>a *rational* response ... more reasoning and argumentation

>>Perhaps it's worth mentioning that "rationalization" is exactly 
>>*not* any of those things. It's the process of cooking up fake 
>>"reasons" for an emotional response.
>
>I agree totally that it's a "cooking up" process. But the
>usual usage appears to be truth-irrelevant

Au contraire. "Knave, why did you take those tarts?" "Ah, I saw them 
piled up in the open window and feared that four and twenty 
blackbirds would swoop down and steal them." "What BULLSHIT! I just 
saw you eating them yourself!" "Well, I reasoned that you wouldn't 
want them back after I'd--" "Shut up, you rascal! <boxes ears> That's 
a flagrant rationalization, even if you do end up convincing yourself 
that it was your real motive."

Damien Broderick