Perhaps that's it, maybe I just disagree with the end result, and have somehow wrapped that up in a belief that the decisions are arbitrary. I guess I'm also using "arbitrary" differently, perhaps incorrectly. I don't mean it in the sense that people aren't thoroughly exploring the options and deciding on a course of action; I mean that the result isn't actually logically consistent and just flows from people being practical and needing to find a way to justify new things inside an old framework, whatever the cost. To me, that's "arbitrary". If that's not actually what that word means, I apologize, and will try to find a better word.

From my perspective, I see the idea of the "Shabbos goy" to be, at best, weird, and at worst, acting in bad faith. To me, an Orthodox Jew is saying "I'm not allowed to do these things, and do not want to do them because I prefer the comfort and equanimity of being disconnected", but then turning around and using the fruits of others who do not adhere to those restrictions.

Essentially people who use a Shabbos goy, to me, are trying to have their cake and eat it too. They want to benefit from the existence of the technology they are taking a break from, while pushing responsibility for that technology on others. Perhaps acting in this manner allows a practitioner to feel like they're preserving the spirit of Shabbat and gain benefit from the whole things, but to me, it's just dishonest. Obviously practitioners disagree, as is their prerogative. Just as it is mine to believe that people will often go through as many mental contortions as needed to justify their actions.