We agree much more on what's "right" than you suggest.
Take two systems which do the same things. One does it as expected, the other surprises you in subtle ways. One does it as specified, the other sometimes does not. One does it quickly, the other makes you wait a bit. One fits in a few pages of code, the other takes a whole book.
I agree that you can't tell what's right in advance. But it's not a matter of preference, it's a matter of ignorance. In hindsight, when you see the results, you can most of the time point out what could have produced better results, if only you knew. You can even go meta, wondering why you didn't knew, then try and change that in the future.
Take two systems which do the same things. One does it as expected, the other surprises you in subtle ways. One does it as specified, the other sometimes does not. One does it quickly, the other makes you wait a bit. One fits in a few pages of code, the other takes a whole book.
I agree that you can't tell what's right in advance. But it's not a matter of preference, it's a matter of ignorance. In hindsight, when you see the results, you can most of the time point out what could have produced better results, if only you knew. You can even go meta, wondering why you didn't knew, then try and change that in the future.