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comment by cousin_it · 2018-06-08T06:17:35.727Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Why not treat others as they want to be treated, and fall back to the golden rule when you're not sure?
Replies from: Raemon↑ comment by Raemon · 2018-06-08T18:46:58.600Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
There's something nice about the golden rule in that it's... somewhere between normative for altruism and selfishness. It encodes within itself an explanation of why it makes sense: "if you want to be treated the way you want to be treated, you need to live in a world where people make the effort to treat others the way they want to be treated."
Whereas "treat others the way they want to be treated" just feels to me like an externally imposed "should" statement.
Replies from: SaidAchmiz↑ comment by Said Achmiz (SaidAchmiz) · 2018-06-08T21:56:18.320Z · LW(p) · GW(p)
Meta-golden-rule:
“Meta-treat others the way the way you want to be meta-treated—which means: treat others the way they want to be treated instead of the way you want to be treated (just as you prefer to be treated the way you want to be treated, rather than the way other people want to be treated).”
The nice thing about this is that if you take the meta-version of this rule (and meta-meta-, etc.), it collapses into itself (similarly to “GOD Over Djinn”); and, because it begins with “golden-rule nature”, it has the desideratum you cite. (That is: “Why should I treat others the way they want to be treated?” “Because you want them to treat you the way you want to be treated.”)
Replies from: Raemon