Okay I think you get what I&#x27;m saying.  The Golden Rule would have gotten you killed in the desert if those nomads find flint to be some kind of sacred metal only their priests can carry or something equally absurd.<p>I just don&#x27;t think &quot;treat people with kindness&quot; is what the Golden Rule says.  That might be the intent of the people who reference it, but the Golden Rule literally says, &quot;Treat others how you wish to be treated&quot;, which makes the assumption that &quot;how you wish to be treated&quot; is universal.  I agree, realistically one should treat people how <i>they</i> wish to be treated, but that&#x27;s not what the Golden Rule says.<p>My point re: calling girls dudes is that you simply cannot know if a girl does or doesn&#x27;t want to be called a dude unless they express a preference, which may or may not happen.  Some girls <i>like</i> to be called dudes (A), and we should do to others what <i>they</i> like us to do to them (B), therefore we should call <i>those</i> girls dudes (C).  (B) is <i>not</i> the Golden Rule as such, because how I&#x27;d like to be treated doesn&#x27;t apply to someone else (see nomad flint worshipers above).<p>I just want to be clear that what you&#x27;re saying is not what I have issue with -- yes, we should definitely treat others in the manner in which they&#x27;d prefer to be treated.  My issue is entirely with the characterization of this as the &quot;Golden Rule&quot;.  I don&#x27;t believe that&#x27;s what the text of the Golden Rule reads as.