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The Golden Rule
When someone is nice to us, we feel like being nice back. When someone is mean to us, we feel like being mean back. Nobody taught this to us; it’s the way we are designed. Mother Nature programmed us to treat other people the way they treat us. That’s because in nature, we had plenty of real enemies that wanted to hurt or kill us. If others were nice to us, it was smart to be their friends in return. It made both of us stronger, especially when there were enemies around that wanted to demolish us. But those who were mean to us were probably looking to hurt or kill us, so it made sense to be even meaner to them than they were to us.
Several thousand years ago, someone had a brilliant idea. If it’s our nature to treat others the way they treat us, it must also be their nature to treat us the way we treat them. Who needs enemies? Enemies hurt us and make us miserable. So why not force everyone to become our friends? All we have to do is treat others nicely even when they are being mean to us. Before long, they will start treating us back nicely because they are programmed to treat us the way we treat them!
This concept has become known as The Golden Rule: “Treat others as you would like to be treated.” This rule is so wonderful that every religion has adopted it in some form, such as, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” and “Whatever is hateful to you, do not to others.” The Golden Rule is the ultimate rule for having success in civilization. Since civilization provides enough food for everyone, we don’t have to be enemies at all. By using The Golden Rule, everyone becomes friends and we all become stronger and happier.
Throughout your life, if you are ever unsure about how to handle a problem with another person, ask yourself if you are using The Golden Rule: “Am I treating this person the way I would like to be treated?” or “Would I like it if they were doing to me what I am doing to them?” If the answer is “Yes,” you will probably solve the problem. If the answer is “No,” you will probably get bad results and should change your strategy.
It is not always obvious how to use The Golden Rule. This book should make it clearer for you.
