Principled usually means “minimizing harm” which I argue you are not doing.
It can also mean doing crazy things to protect ego or ideology like “I’m going down with my ship”.
It’s starting to sound like is “yeah this isn’t pragmatic but it’s really moral.”
You seem to think that “pragmatic” and “rational” have universal or objective definitions, which is completely untrue. For example, depending on if you have a short term or long term view of a situation could completely change whether an action is considered rational or not, and vice versa, and has absolute nothing to do with any moral framework.
Of course, the complete lack of inhibition that affords, is exactly what can make psychopaths so compelling.
Spend less time trying to be right and more time learning.
Of course, a complete lack of self awareness is also a common principle-free, sociopathic trait.