“Utility scores” and their close cousins “prior probability distributions” seem to me like a way for mathematically inclined brains to frame their decisions in

“Utility scores” and their close cousins “prior probability distributions” seem to me like a way for mathematically inclined brains to frame their decisions in “math” because anything else feels “irrational” and icky. To me, it seems like the assignment of priors and utilities scores is mostly arbitrary in these types of personal decision-making applications. How does one arrive at a score of 40 and 80? Does the magnitude of the difference mean anything? What’s the range on utility? If these are just random numbers plucked from thin air then how is utility different from a feeling which you can plug into some equations? How does saying one thing has 80 vs 40 utility mean anything other than “I feel a little better about this than that”? And if utility is just a numerical representation of a feeling, how do the results of these equations produce anything that we can interpret?