i recently saw a blog on stumble that said the golden rule is false. if everyone did unto others as they would have done to themselves, clamity would result.

one of the instances was a E.M.T. laying on the ground with a knife in her chest. a passerby sees this and pulls it out, that bieng what they would want. the injured woman bieng a E.M.T knows that the knife was blocking a artery from bleeding, and so bleeds out and dies.

then i talked to my dad and he described a book to me called gold#9 in which a alien comes to earth and releses a dust that enforces instant karma. a person kills a police officer and dies instantly, so on and so forth.

do you think the golden rule is valid?

As a general moral rule, I think it's pretty good... although the "negative golden rule" version articulated by Confucius works a little better, for example:

"Don't do to others what you don't like."

The biggest problem with the golden rule IMO is there's an element of relativism in the rule. Two people might have different likes and dislikes, but the rule will cause each to impose their preferences on the other. I think the rule should be"

"Don't do to others what *they* don't like (unless they will thank you in the long run)"

sounds bad

@rickycodie: have a link to the blog?
The knife-example seems to suck to me. It is just a question of lack of knowledge, rather then having anything to do with the "golden rule". Maybe also a case of what someone wants at a particular time, rather then what he wants in the broader picture.
I think the "golden rule" is not a bad good rule of thumb, dealing with other people. It is not like any rule will relieve you from having to use your mind or anything.

no i don't know where i found it.

but a good thing to think about it that a just rule enforced aboulutly is absolutly injust.

Of course it is valid. What is not valid is hanging a bunch of silly "what-ifs" and "yeah-buts" on it. You're EMT thing for example: the golden rule says just as you'd want someone to care for you if you were injured, you should care for them. It doesn't say everyone has to have an educaiton in emergency medicine. The alternative to the person doing what thought was best for the stabbed EMT is them doing nothing being doing the correct thing isn't an option due to their lack of training.

It's a cold hard world where bad things happen to good people. Mistakes are made.

If there is anything wrong with the golden rule, its that it suggests people are beholden to others whereas I believe people should look out for themselves above all.

What's EMT? A bleeder?

If if a person is not a bleeder it would not be good to pull the knife out as it is very dangerous for all if some arteries or stuff is damaged.

EMT - Emergency Medical Technician
Typically, it refers to someone who has just enough medical training to know how to not kill someone while waiting for the ambulance. EMT's are typically not really supposed to do very much active treatment, although they are trained to perform CPR if needed. They're one step below paramedics (that's the guys on the ambulance).

The golden rule is a good rule. It is not a good idea to strictly enforce *any* rule in such an inflexible way as you have described. The idea behind the rule is the right one.

the golden rule is more of a guideline... golden guideline so to speak

any rule has exceptions. no one (i hope) want to get punched, cussed at, etc, so dont do it to others.

Some people do enjoy getting punched and cussed... masochists for example. The rule of course assumes universal preferences.

I think the golden rule is just a very basic Moral Code. When i think of the ¨Golden Rule¨ i think of Karma, the 7 fold rule and other religious basics

the cencus seems to be that we should follow the spirit of the law and not the letter.

@rickycodie: Hey! No-one mentioned the law yet. It really depends on what the law says. We should not take for granted that following the law is always the best thing. One of the reasons for democracies is to make sure the law does not deviate too far from what is considered the moral thing to do.

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what i mean by spirit and not letter of the law is this:

going by the letter of the law "thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself", one that wants to die should kill, because that is how he feels about himself. the spirit of the law says that you do the good to your neighbor that you want done for yourself.

the golden rule says the same, but it is worded differently.