#ourperception

The golden rule is one of the most famous and essential lessons that were taught to us as a child, but as I grew up, I did not pay much attention to this so-called golden rule, and I do not mind whether I was able to follow it or not. Now that I am studying it in the subject Ethics and it became the topic of our report, I realized that I have been doing it for so long. I think I started doing it when I began to have my own perception of things that I can already decide for myself and got to have various experiences in my life. It is just that I did not realize it before since I do not care about it because all I care about is that as much as possible, I should not do bad things or anything that could cause harm to others.

Ever since I was a child, I was very conscious about myself and all of the things that I do either for myself or others, and I think that maybe part of it was the reason I became empathetic as a person. Being the empathic person that I am, I tend to apply the golden rule in my life in a way that I usually put myself in the shoes of others first, before doing anything or deciding on how I should act towards them. Also, as I write this, I realized that I apply the teachings of the golden rule in its three forms which are the positive or directive form (Golden Rule), negative or prohibitive form (Silver Rule), and empathic or responsive form (Bronze Rule). As I have mentioned, I am an empathic person who puts oneself in the shoes of others before doing anything towards them, which indicates the bronze rule. For the silver rule, there are instances wherein I experienced something that made me feel uncomfortable or something that I think one should not do to others, and since I experienced it first hand, as much as possible, I would not want to do it to others because I simply, do not want to experience it myself. And if there is something that makes me feel good that it makes me happy to be treated in that particular way, I would also like to do it to others if given a chance which indicates the positive form of the golden rule. Although I want to treat others in the ways that I want to be treated myself, I know that I should be careful and should not do it all the time because I am aware of the criticism of the golden rule wherein there may be cases in which other people might want or might not want me to treat them in a way that I want or I do not want to be treated myself.

All of these forms of the golden rule are essential in guiding us to a righteous life, but in order to avoid conflicts and issues, the best thing to do is to follow the platinum rule wherein one should treat others in ways that they want to be treated themselves, and most importantly, respect and be kind to others.

Written by: Shaira Marie Serdeña