Justifying and Rationalizing

Why do we spend so much time justifying and rationalizing?

We can justify any decision we make. We can find other people who agree with our decision. We can find famous quotes to support our decision, no matter what we choose to do...

"Turn the other cheek!"

"An eye for an eye!"

For every adage, there's an equal and opposite adage.

Then why do we spend so much time justifying and rationalizing?

It seems like a huge waste of time, given the fact that most things we do are not "right" or "wrong". They just _are_.

Note that I said "most" things. There are exceptions, of course. Most people would agree that it's wrong to kill, or to steal. I'm not talking about those kinds of things.

I'm talking about questions like, "Should I be an engineer?” Yes? No? There's no morally right or wrong answer... unless you're morally opposed to engineering. And you can find people to give you advice and support for both the "yes" and "no" decision.

SO...

Why do we spend so much time justifying and rationalizing?

Excuse me while I go endlessly ponder the answer(s).