[nicops]

The irrationality studied by Dan Ariely et al it's not comparable _at all_ with the freudian irrationality. The former brings to the forefront our fauly heuristics and biases. The later is about how culture and our psyche actively makes us ignorant of parts of ourselves that are inconvenient, and that can come out in bursts of irrational, unstable, "crazy" behavior.

[lukeasrodgers]

You're right that they are very different takes on irrationality. Whether they are a comparable "at all" is obviously just a matter of context. If I'm interested in research on loss aversion, looking at Freud and Ariely together would be silly. If I'm interested in the history of ideas (which my point was addressing) then looking at them alongside each other makes perfect sense.

You're saying "apples vs oranges" and I'm saying, "sure, but I'm talking about fruits."

[nicops]

But maybe bringing fruits up it's irrelevant in some context, depending on what we're talking about. This is one of these contexts. The very same phrase you quoted from the article clarifies it's not talking about "perfect" rationality.

In the history of psychology/sociology, Freud and Ariely don't make sense with each other.