rationalize 

to make excuses by masking own flaws/insecurities by explaining one's own reasoning/actions, often used to avoid the real reason or reality when all it does it make one small, simple & scared.

Joe: Bill why did you beat that guy up?
Bill: cuz he flirted with my girlfriend dude.
Joe: Umm, he was just asking where a store is.
Bill: Well, I had to protect her honor & defend her, besides he looked shifty.
Joe: You're just doing nothing but rationalize.

rationalize by fballjones October 12, 2010

Reverse Rationalism

Reverse Rationalism is a stance which is practically incomprehensible that seeks to be the opposite of what classical rationalism is about, it coniders atheism, anti-theism, laicism, state atheism, scientism, materialism, physicalism, positivism/empirism and naturalism as being irrational while it considers theism, anti-atheism, anti-anti-theism, discidism, state spiritualism, state religion, theocracy, anti-scientism / extrascientism, anti-materialism / extramaterialism, extraphysicalism, post-positivism / post-empirism, spiritualism, spirituality, religion, esoterism, occultism and supernaturalism as being rational, it basically believes that everything considered as irrational by reverse rationalism should be countered while everything considered as rational by reverse rationalism should be promoted and even encouraged.

"Reverse Rationalism makes sense, somehow, if we consider what people like the ones on RationalWiki and on Quora actually do, and how several spiritual, esoteric and occultist groups have a lot of good explanations about reality and existence as well."

Reverse Rationalism by Full Monteirism April 22, 2021

Rationalized Distancing 

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when you see your friends or family members who don’t live under your roof either one-on-one or in groups whether it be standing 6 feet apart from each other and not moving from that spot, meeting in cars in the parking lot, walking or riding bikes together on opposite sides of the street, or holding exercise classes in the street. These people are practicing creative distancing, but it is slightly different because people who practice rationalized distancing think it’s okay because they list the precautions they had taken and will argue with those who don’t agree with them—it was only five minutes, they sat 6 feet apart, we monitored their behavior, it was just a playdate, the only other place we go is the grocery store, I’m healthy, we’re all healthy. However, according to MIT research “mucus and saliva can burst from a person’s mouth at nearly a hundred miles an hour and travel as far as 27 feet.” This method of distancing is flawed, selfish, and breaks all social distancing rules.

Joe met up with his two brothers at his house and practiced rationalized distancing by saying it was okay because they only met for 10 minutes. Now, all three brothers and their entire families have Coronavirus.

Rationalized Distancing by Macblue April 23, 2020

Great rationalizer

one who selects partial truths to tell a story in the way he wants it to be known

James is a great rationalizer spinning the facts to his views

Great rationalizer by Tiny dancer at the girls forum August 6, 2016

Rationalized Bias

A sophisticated form of self-deception where one's pre-existing prejudices, desires, or ideological commitments are retroactively supported by elaborate, internally consistent rationalizations. The person constructs a logical-sounding edifice to justify a conclusion they arrived at for emotional or tribal reasons, believing themselves to be purely rational. The bias lies in the motivated reasoning that builds the rationale.

Example: A person opposed to immigration reform crafts a complex argument citing selective economic studies, abstract principles of sovereignty, and crime statistics. This Rationalized Bias allows them to believe their stance is reasoned, when its roots are in unexamined cultural anxiety and identity politics. The logic serves the bias, not the truth.

Rationalized Bias by Dumu The Void February 4, 2026

rationalist

Following your intuition

She doesn't go by thee law because she's a rationalist.

rationalist by 888LoveisLove888 August 27, 2022

Rationalist Violence

A specific subtype of rational violence associated with online rationalist communities (often influenced by LessWrong, effective altruism, or neoreaction). Rationalist violence weaponizes Bayesian reasoning, expected utility calculations, and “epistemic hygiene” to dismiss experiences, emotions, or values that don’t fit the framework. It can manifest as demanding “error corrections” for personal stories, rejecting art as “inefficient signaling,” or labeling spiritual experiences as “cognitive biases.” The violence lies in reducing the richness of human life to a spreadsheet and then attacking anyone who refuses to be reduced.

Example: “When she spoke of her religious conversion, he interrupted with a lecture on ‘confirmation bias’ and ‘Bayesian priors’—rationalist violence, treating a life-changing experience as a statistical error to be debugged.”

Rationalist Violence by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal April 15, 2026