Prosthemadera t1_j4zx52s wrote on January 19, 2023 at 12:57 PM

Reply to comment by generalmandrake in Steven Pinker on the power of irrationality | Choosing ignorance, incapacity, or irrationality can at times be the most rational thing to do. by IAI_Admin

I don't quite see the distinction you are making. Irrational means non-rational. The prefix ir- means not or non.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ir-#Latin

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/in-#Latin

generalmandrake t1_j50z4k3 wrote on January 19, 2023 at 5:19 PM

Prefixes aside, the definition of the word "irrational" is normally taken to mean unreasonable and illogical, whereas non-rational is normally taken to mean not based in reason. There is an important distinction between the two. One goes against reason, while the other is not rooted in reason, but is not necessarily unreasonable in nature.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/irrational https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nonrational

Prosthemadera t1_j514w4p wrote on January 19, 2023 at 5:54 PM

I'm not interested in discussing word meanings, let alone what a word is "normally taken to mean". It's a total waste of time and I'd rather read Pinker's article again.

generalmandrake t1_j5175rj wrote on January 19, 2023 at 6:07 PM

No, wasting time is looking up the Latin prefixes instead of the actual dictionary definitions(which I provided the links to in my response).

Non-rational and irrational are two different words with two different meanings. I’m not sure what to say other than if you are maintaining that they mean the same thing you are simply wrong.