As I recklessly speed through downtown Phoenix, checking my e-mail on my phone and singing The Beatles, it’s pretty clear I’m not behaving rationally.

Why take all these traffic risks for so little benefit? At that particularly moment, I’m probably just glad to be off work, and, for whatever reason, I think I’m invincible. There’s no justification for me ever driving like that.

If we break down our day-to-day decision-making, it boils down to this: Every action is based on a cost-benefit analysis. All we really do, ever, is decide whether the benefit of doing something outweighs the cost. That evaluation is usually meaningless when we ignore reality to rationalize a behavior that feels good at the time.

Speeding is an example of a possibly low-risk, high-gain activity. Personally, I’ve never had an accident or ticket, but it’s inevitable that one day I’ll get pulled over and be required to pay a large sum of money. And all that money I’ll lose in that traffic ticket will hopefully, probably, be worth it for every time I didn’t walk into class late or disrespect someone by not showing up on time.

It’s impossible to be certain about any of our choices. But here are a few personal decisions that I think can be justified under specific circumstances:

— Taking up chain-smoking to get through a stressful week. Provided you don’t make a long-term habit of it, perhaps that week of lung abuse is worth the increased work or school performance that cigarettes can apparently bring.

— Living on an unsustainably unhealthy diet of Ramen and cheap soda to pay the bills during college.

— Text-messaging while dangerously exceeding the freeway speed limit. What if you’re an above-average driver, that text message is very time-sensitive and you’re late for something important? Mathematically, it’s very plausible that the probability of a collision is less than the benefits of texting and driving in some cases. Don’t forget that this is illegal in Phoenix.

— Lying about your most deep-rooted personal beliefs to avoid annoying someone important (and easily offended).

— Developing an insatiable and unhealthy addiction to energy drinks just to get through morning classes.

— Singing loudly while driving. Perhaps the stress relief will increase your quality of life more so that the likelihood of an accident would take it down.

Those examples hint at moral relativism, which some say is a disastrous mindset. Perhaps. But critical, self-interested evaluation is probably the best we can do for these types of situations. Even if it all comes down to our biased worldviews and what facts we cherry-pick.

If I started believing that most people were going to hell for not following a specific interpretation of the Bible, I would absolutely become one of those loathed preachers on campus. Humanity will never come up with any idea worse than the concept of hell, so why not fight the prospects of never-ending suffering?

If I actually thought all of ASU was going to burn, I’d probably carry signs and yell, too.

Reach Matt at matt.culbertson@asu.edu.