Because everyone’s too busy trying to look competent in the eyes of the people they’re trying to get things from to be honest about their situation, even with themselves. Personal mythmaking is important — it keeps us looking at hope instead of despair — but it’s a dangerous tool because of how powerful it is for blocking out “other realities”.

To me, the prevalence of back-justification is an indirect measure of the health of the system in which it occurs. The more of it I hear, the more confidently I can assume that something is wrong at a deep level and that I can’t depend on the answers I’m getting to inform me about the actual situation.