It's for this reason---(is it it? yes, I think it is)---that I find "What caused you to believe what you believe?" to be a much better fundamental question of rationality than the moral-justification-priming "Why do you believe what you believe?". Same with "What caused you to work on what you're working on?" rather than "Why are you working on what you're working on?" (or variations thereof), at least on a timescale greater than months.

Anyway, all of this falls before the milestone that is Cached Selves, which used to be the second or third highest upvoted post on LW but has slipped since then. I can't help but think some of Less Wrong's purposes must've been lost---but maybe it's just a matter of taste.