Pace, ha! The Platinum Rule! It's just right: “Do unto others as they would have you do unto them.â€ It's also trickier, because you have to take the time to figure out what that is. It's like doing some solid detective work. (Also, I can't believe you've written about "the flaw in the Golden Rule." Makes me think we're onto something.)

And for anyone who's still following these comments, I was thinking yesterday about how well the gift-giving metaphor that I used in my post works when you extend it (particularly in light of the things Beloved Spear and xmartinj were pointing out). Not only do you not want to buy gifts for others based on what you would like best to receive, but discovering the best gift for someone requires that we take the time to really know them. In general, the better you know and understand a person, the easier it is to buy them the perfect gift. In an odd way, gift-giving can be a form of empathy.