No, it's irrational when taking into account the examples given where from the start it's obvious that the choices are "equal enough".
The point is not that it's hard work to distinguish between similar option, the point is that people do it even if its clear it has no benefit from the very start. That's irrational. People even take it so far as to miss out on money straight in front of them, see dot counting experiment.
The point is not that it's hard work to distinguish between similar option, the point is that people do it even if its clear it has no benefit from the very start. That's irrational. People even take it so far as to miss out on money straight in front of them, see dot counting experiment.