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Couple of things:
1) we don't know what is inside people's heads. We can't. So of course we can only evaluate rationality by observing their actions and then measuring the actions against some yardstick. I suppose that can be called ex post labelling, but there really isn't any other way to do it, right?
2) of course people can only make decisions based on the info they have available to them and their own capabilities. That's the very definition of being a rational actor. Your position seems to be that there is some independent absolute definition of what a rational decision is, against which everyone's decisionmaking can be evaluated. I don't agree with that at all. I think you can point to general tendencies, but that's all, because each person is unique and has his/her own priorities and abilities. The ability to forecast can only be based on gross generalizations and tendencies, based on what most people would deem rational in a general situation.
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