It's Sean's case it's not really nonsense. I can't know for sure what's going on through his head, but he seems to have clearly made up his mind to live life on

It's Sean's case it's not really nonsense. I can't know for sure what's going on through his head, but he seems to have clearly made up his mind to live life on his own terms as much as possible, even at the cost of a shorter lifespan and much comfort. If everyone chose the "rational" way of just adapting to everything and keeping their head down, we would never have civil rights, regime changes, embryonic labor rights, and any number of struggles where people go beyond a utilitarian calculus at a great cost to themselves. This is how power balances have gotten overturned historically. You also have some leeway of personal adaptation. It's one thing to stay within the bounds that society sets forth. It's another to grovel and revel in your servitude. For instance, looking at Astrojetson's comments, at no point did they blame the riverside landowners for their selfishness and nosiness, the blame was all on Sean for daring to do what he's doing. They were no longer psychologically able to criticize the true source of the problem.