(June 20, 2024 at 2:38 pm)Paleophyte Wrote:(June 19, 2024 at 7:14 pm)Belacqua Wrote: The Golden Rule really is golden. Not to be forgotten. And it's often pointed out these days that most societies seem to have evolved their own version of it.
The difficulty with the Golden Rule is that the common version, cited above, isn't the best one. Just goes to show how "simple" morals are anything but.
"Do unto others as you would have done unto you" is a good rule but it presumes that what I want done unto me is good for anybody else. It assumes a common perspective that, while largely accurate for broad strokes, can fall down when you get into the picky details. A better formulation is "Do unto others as they would have done unto them."
That said, the world would be a much better place if more people followed any version of it.
Yes, agreed.
We have to be careful not to assume that others want what we want. And, even more so, we have to be careful that we're not just giving them what we want to give, rather than what they need. For example, it's easy and tempting to give a lecture, when what they really need is sympathy, or even just a sandwich.
