Selfish Reasons for Being Honest
I regularly listen to books and podcasts to expose myself to new ways of thinking and seeing things. One of the shows I listen to is The Yaron Brook Show. Yaron Brook is an objectivist and the current chairman of the board at the Ayn Rand Institute. Objectivism is a philosophical system developed by Ayn Rand centered on individuals using reason to pursue their best life.
Although I don’t consider myself an Objectivist, I love learning from him because of his interesting take on ethics, life, and philosophy. What Yaron teaches is unique and fresh compared to conventional wisdom and the traditional way of viewing things.
One of those things is on the subject of honesty and why being honest is in your best interest and gives you a new perspective on this admired characteristic.
Being Honest With Yourself
Let’s dive into what being honest with yourself means. It means that you’re a seeker of the truth. More specifically, you want to live in reality. You engage your mind in reason rather than relying on emotion.
Your orientation is about what the facts are, not what you wish the facts to be. You’re unconcerned with what the people in your life want you to believe, or with what’s convenient. Instead, you seek truth for what it is objectively.
You understand that using reason and truth is life-promoting and that believing and using untruth is life-destroying.
You engage in introspection and get rid of contradictions you might be holding on to. You engage in learning new things. You willingly embrace legitimate criticisms because you prefer the truth over being right. After all, it is only by the truth that you can move forward. Making yourself feel good with emotions that aren’t tied to reality won’t move you forward.
You recognize that letting falsity into your mind and your thinking process only hinders your mind. You optimize your mind by emptying the garbage. Fill your mind with the nourishment of truth and values tied to reality.
You are always ready to think, engage in new ideas, figure new things out, and be curious. Challenge yourself and fight stagnation of the mind and stagnation in all areas of your life.
Being honest with yourself is the only way to make your mind’s best use to apply yourself in achieving your values. When you go after a goal, ask yourself if you live a life that will lead you to that goal. Be honest to yourself about what values enhance your experience.
Being Honest With Others
Objectivist philosopher, author, and former professor Leonard Peikoff describes the nature of being honest with others in this way:
“an attempt to gain a value by deceiving the mind of others is an act of raising your victims to a position higher than reality, where you become a pawn of their blindness, a slave of their non-thinking and their evasions, while their intelligence, their rationality, their perceptiveness become the enemies you have to dread and flee.”
Why do people lie to others? They believe it’s an effective means of achieving their desired end, and they value that end more than the means of attaining it. That end can be anything from money, prestige, or a relationship.
According to Yaron, “it’s not about the thing you get but HOW you get it and what you know about yourself by getting it.”
If you achieve a value by dishonest means, it undercuts your self-esteem, confidence, and rational thinking. The action of lying demonstrates that you don’t believe in yourself to get a value through facts and reality. You don’t know yourself as someone reliable and independent. Realizing this about yourself is damaging to your conscience and psyche.
Yaron explains, “Being dishonest is anti conceptual, anti mind, anti-life, anti-values. Results are the same. It means misery.”
That is why Bernie Madoff feels better about himself and happier in jail than making billions off fraud. Your actions and your word must be tied to reality to feel at peace with yourself.
When you lie to other people or make reality what it isn’t in other people’s minds, their values and realization of the facts become your enemy. The end you are trying to achieve is out of your hands and out of your control. You lose your self-reliance to the extent you lie. The individuals you lie to are given power over you and your values and makes you feel second-handed by the fear of reality becoming known.
Lying is a destructive policy in business, relationships, and psychology, especially in the long run. Deception pits you against others, the truth, facts, reality, yourself, and your morality.
Summary
Honesty is loyalty to the truth, a “refusal to sacrifice the reality of his own existence to the deluded consciousness of others.” as put by Leonard Peikoff. You are engaging with people in win-win(meaning mutually beneficial) relationships instead of being a fraudster. You see the value of trading with others. You have the confidence to achieve your values on your terms instead of someone else’s.
Honesty towards self and others always will be superior to being pragmatic and doing whatever seems best at the moment without regard for principles or values.
Even with only yourself in mind, honesty is vital to your happiness. The ultimate end is about putting truth, facts, and reality on your side rather than your enemies. Skip the sand. Build a firm and honest foundation that weathers through the test of time.
