Irrationality and ignorance are indirectly linked to one another in that they are both capable of blocking out reason.

You can’t reason with an irrational person, because he lacks the intellect necessary to be rational. You can’t reason with an ignorant person, because he lacks the knowledge necessary to understand what you’re talking about.

By definition, an ignorant person is someone who doesn’t know the facts. An irrational person, on the other hand, is usually someone who is self-delusive and thus capable of simply ignoring the facts and blocking out any information that contradicts his faulty belief system.

The takeaway is this: It’s always a bad idea to try to help irrational or ignorant people “see the light.” It makes much more sense to use your time and energy to search for rational, well-informed people and focus on bringing them into your life.

That said, beware: Such a search is no easy task, because rational, well-informed people are in very short supply in our world of collective insanity.