Irrationality by Justin E. H. Smith
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This is a challenging book in multiple senses. The author undertakes a more or less philosophical examination of human irrationality organized topically by the many modes and moods of unreason. The author exposes a lot of fault lines in the human experience deftly and is a talented stylist. The book fairly overflows with sharp observations and grace notes. So far, so good.
However, the author's style (though delightful) can be dense and elliptical. He also has a tendency to expand and contract swiftly from the very abstract to the very concrete, which often leaves the thread of argument behind. This is compounded by the author's tendency to treat the abstract establishment of a possibility as a "proof of the matter asserted" to borrow a phrase, which is maddening (the chapter on the limits of logic is particularly infuriating). Finally, the author is serially sloppy with details; sometimes inconsequentially ("Star Trek's Captain Sulu explaining the impossible physics of hyperdrive") but sometimes where the details actually, really matter (some of the historical/political commentary is simply erroneous).
The effect of all that was to leave me constantly wondering whether I had missed something vital, or if the author had, which is not a good feeling when reading a non-fiction book. That said, what was both clear and clearly true in the book was well-reasoned and provocative and provided a lot of food for thought. As is, I can't justify a rating greater than three stars, but I may read it a second time to see if I can settle definitively the question of which of us is being irrational.