Monday, May 5, 2008

The Rules of the Game p.2

The previous part was entirely dedicated to the Golden Rule. Its the most famous of the moral rules. Why? I think because its the most "weird" to us. Its the one the goes against our grain the most. In short, its the most noble.

But if you think its too much for you, you can try the Silver Rule instead:

Do Not Do Unto Others What You Would Not Have Them Do Unto You.

I know it sounds a bit convoluted, but it simply means: Don't hurt others.

It doesn't say go and be nice to others, but atleast you're not allowed to cause them harm. But what if the other person slaps me a good slap on the cheek? You don't take revenge, you simply refrain, abstain and be passive.

Its essentially the "Ghandi-way". Passive resistance. il7egran yga6e3 ilmesraan taken to the extreme (ignoring someone cuts up their intestines, don't you love literal translations?).

It is less noble than the Golden Rule to be sure, but its still good.

Is it effective in making us better people? I mean atleast its more accessible and easier to comply with. So we're more likely to stick to it. But we become essentially doormats. 6ofa habee6a (low wall.. :P). Sure it served Ghandi well and shamed the english into leaving India, but it also failed the South Africans and eventually they said "to hell with it" and took up arms in the end. Tibetan buddhist monks are reaching their own limits and getting all riled up against the chinese oppressors.

It doesn't take.. it feels weak. At least the Golden Rule shows the offender that you're shaming him with your good deed. At least you're doing SOMEthing. It doesn't even handle the case of if the other person did not offend you at all, but was good to you, how do you treat them then?

Verdict: Silver Rule is too Passive. bleh.. mo shai.

But more importantly, What do YOU think?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The silver rule is a misconception.
No you’re not a doormat for looking the other way nor are you weak for not replying, I know it takes more energy, more strength, more perseverance for you not to re-act or reply there for becoming the stronger person to yourself only.
People might point it as a weakness in response you simply stay silent they only comment on what is obvious ;)


Rise Above.

Anonymous said...

P.S what the golden rule again?

falantan said...

skinny bee:
well, sometimes its strength, and sometimes its simply out of weakness. and since this strength is rare, its more likely to be out of weakness. That means its more likely to produce behavior where the offender simply does the offense again and again because you're not doing anything to stop them. So in that sense, it can be bad to always forgive unconditionally, it can promote bad behavior rather than stop it.

I think if the indians had guns and tanks and an organized army at the time not only would they have went all violent on the english, but also the english would not have dared to exploit India as much as they did.

My point is, the silver rule is great, but it can easily be the only choice because of simple weakness, not real self-restraint.

And the golden rule is in Part1, which is simply to "Be good to others." regardless of how good or bad are they to you.

Anonymous said...

i believe that a person "gets" what they "give" ... If you give "good" then you receive "good" and vice versa... the more you give the more you receive ...

so .. definately golden rule for me :)

Big Pearls said...

I really believe in ur silver rule.

falantan said...

meeemo:
if you're taking heaven/hell into account and judgement day, then I agree with you 100%, you do get what you give. but from a secular p.o.v, not necessarily. sometimes simply, "shit happens" with no reward or consolation. this is if you're talking from a strictly earthly point of view.

and even if you're a believer, when someone kills your brother, it is very very very excruciatingly hard to forgive them, and even harder to do something good for them like pay their bail for example. that's the golden rule. its way way too tough to follow than it seems.

big pearls:
Yeah I agree in these days, the saints of our time, the best you can do is to stop yourself from doing harm.
"kaafe 5airah sharrah" as they say.
(spares others from both his evil as well as good)

Anonymous said...

la actually i was not referring to heaven and hell .. i was referring to exactly that "you get what you give"
The more positive you put out into the world in terms of a vibe the more u get ...

If the guy killed you brother .. the golden rule doesn't mean you bail him out .. the golden rule means that you forgive him for what he did and ask god to forgive him and guide him to a good path ..
That is how i interpret it .. because at the end of the day justice will keep him in prison ..

Even if you forgive him that doesn't mean he is free .. he still has to go through the national justice system ...

i think the idea behind the golden rule is that we don't dwell on the past and hold grudges against people ... that doesn't do anyone any good ... we keep repeating events in our heads until we exhaust our potential ..

we need to forgive and forget .. we feel better and move on ...

Kaos said...

Both the golden rule and the silver rule make sense, though we should not take them to extremes.

And they should not be the primary thought, however it is a check on your actions just like the error checks you do if you were programming and testing the software.

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