a hypothetical situation wherein an ass (or donkey) that is equally hungry and thirsty is placed precisely midway between a stack of hay and a pail of water. Since the paradox assumes the ass will always go to whichever is closer, it dies of both hunger and thirst since it cannot make any rational decision between the hay and water.
Not making a choice is also a choice, and a value can be placed on that choice. It’s hard to say that starving to death would have a higher utility than drinking first or eating first.
It’s not irrational to be unable to rank two choices. An even easier scenario is to simply remove all information necessary to perform the ranking, like letting someone choose between two different unmarked doors with prizes of different value behind them.
It is probably irrational, however, to rank permanent immobility until death over picking one of the two choices between which one lacks information to perform a ranking.