I converted to Objectivism when I was about 18 1/4. Took me less than a day. I happened across Ayn Rand's book of philosophical essays, The Virtue of Selfishness, and found it overwhelmingly convincing. The writing was harsh, and somewhat unpleasant -- not thoughtful, well-rounded, and philosophical, unfortunately -- but it almost always came directly to the point, and was marvelously rational and clear. The book also seemed to answer a stunning 75% of the questions I'd wondered about all of my life. A remarkable and exhilarating tour de force.
And yet I did have philosophies prior to Objectivism. I think everybody does. Everyone more or less has to have some intellectual theory, or set of ideas to guide them, even when painfully young. Usually it's just a collection of related aphorisms, I think.
It's hard to remember exactly, but when I was about 5 or so I came across the word "hypocrisy". I'd heard it at least 2 or 3 times before, in my conscious memory, and maybe far more than that as it went in one ear and out the other. But on this one particular occasion I focused on it a bit, and asked some unknown person of quality what it meant. He provided a competent definition, and I was floored. I thought about it almost nonstop for days and days. This was the term I'd been looking for for an exceptionally long time.
I had no idea such a word existed, or even could exist. It seemed to describe the world around me to a T. I'd observed hypocrisy pretty much everywhere I went for an immense time but wasn't sure what to make of it, or how to describe it, or even if it could be adequately described.
And yet here it was, well-encapsulated and exact, in just one word.
At first I felt sorry for the Adults around me. I thought that their whole world -- as opposed to the virtuous and clean Kid World -- would soon come to an end. They seemed doomed. I felt the adults around me had now been completely undressed. I thought they were utter fools to even have such a word in their midst -- a giant ticking time bomb ready to explode and devastate their entire corrupt universe.
Hypocrisy, to me, means a lack of consistency between what a person thinks and says and does. It means lying, especially about what a person wants or feels. It means broad general dishonesty and fraud.
To this day I marvel that one word can pack so much meaning into a single discrete unit.
And so I resolved back then to try as hard as hell not to be a hypocrite. To try not to be like those I hated so much. Back then, my contempt and disgust for much of the people and institutions around me was simply withering. I decided to go in the opposite direction.
And here I still am. Maybe it was all a giant mistake. That decision seems to have put me in some kind of powerful, profound, and permanent opposition to my fellow man.
I think people are naturally honest. Or at least 90% of them are. They basically oppose and dislike lying and hypocrisy.
But people are also naturally social. They want and need friends. And in today's world -- under today's dominant philosophy and culture -- it isn't prudent or wise to oppose dishonesty and hypocrisy too much. Not if you want to get along with people.
Anyone with any kind of common sense doesn't crusade against hypocrisy. Everybody knows not to be overly idealistic or principled or consistent. Certainly not in social situations.
It makes your life a kind of hell. And yet that idea -- ferocious opposition to hypocrisy in myself and others -- pretty much was my philosophy prior to Objectivism. In fact, it still is. To anyone who wants a good social life, I don't recommend it.