Symbols by definition are analogies to reality. Analogies are not rationally based, they are rhetorically based. Rhetoric is by no means rational in the sense that this community uses the word. Therefore language is by definition irrational.

Is there a better option for humans/hypothetical other-minds to use instead of symbols?

No, that is my point. Humans have no other way to relate to reality. The idea of a better option is a fiction of essentialist philosophy.