[ STEEMITIQUETTE #1 ] THE GOLDEN RULE. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
PHOTO CREDIT: https://chakshura.com/
In #steemit world, “Upvote my post and I’ll do the same to yours.” Sounds about fair, right?
The Golden Rule promotes relationship symbiosis where everyone coexist in harmony with each other, supporting and complementing one another.
Image: Mycorrhizal Fungi
PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.motherearthnews.com/
The mycorrhizal fungi is a microorganism that lives and exist in nature and can be found mostly where trees and plants are abundant.
They inhabit the roots of the plants and feed on the plant’s carbohydrates and sugar. Now, at first glance, it may seem that these microorganisms are dependent on the plants for food and may actually be classified as a parasite.
But what we do not know is that the mycelium, the vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae or web is responsible for gathering nutrients from the soil and are readily available to plants for nutrients.
Image: Mycelium
PHOTO CREDIT: http://www.ultrakulture.com/
Thus, the symbiotic relationship where both plants and fungi are able to coexist in one ecosystem.
The Golden Rule is very evident in nature. There is a lesson to be learned from these creations which we sometimes take for granted because we do not see how they actually live or we cannot directly relate as to how they survive. But take a closer look at nature. You will find evidences that the Golden Rule applies not only to humans to live happily and harmoniously with one another but to all creations.
What Others Have to Say
The Golden Rule is not only popular in the Bible but people of different faith, religion, and creed made some modifications and elaborations of this passage.
Now let’s see what other people have to say:
“Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.” - Socrates
“Treat other people's home as you want them to respect yours because what goes around comes around.” - Ana Monnar
“I have something that I call my Golden Rule. It goes something like this: 'Do unto others twenty-five percent better than you expect them to do unto you.' … The twenty-five percent is for error.” - Linus Pauling
“Can you hold a red-hot iron rod in your hand merely because someone wants you to do so? Then, will it be right on your part to ask others to do the same thing just to satisfy your desires? If you cannot tolerate infliction of pain on your body or mind by others' words and actions, what right have you to do the same to others through your words and deeds?
Do unto others as you would like to be done by. Injury or violence done by you to any life in any form, animal or human, is as harmful as it would be if caused to your own self.” - Mahavira
“Instead of seeing how much pain I can dish out towards those I disagree with, or who I believe have done me wrong, I seek to follow the golden rule and use my words and behavior to create more of what the world needs – love, compassion, and connection.” - Aspen Baker
“When you’re kind to people, and you pay attention, you make a field of comfort around them, and you get it back—the Golden Rule meets the Law of Karma meets Murphy’s Law.” - Anne Lamott, Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith
Application
Our presence in the steemit community is dependent on the presence of other members. There is no community where there is no interaction and collaboration, changing of ideas, and give-and-take relationship.
And if we treat others well, we can be sure we will be treated the same. Well, that's the idea.
#1 THE GOLDEN RULE. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
Note: Click my INTRODUCTION here if you missed it.
This, to me, is a terrible idea. It can lead to promoting mediocre content due to the psychological realities of reciprocity, but not due to the quality of the content. Curation is supposed to be about promoting good content, not about "getting votes" or making money. The financial incentives are designed to promote good curation. To just trade votes doesn't necessarily do that. If, on the other hand, the posts on both sides are worth voting up, then by all means go for it. I wouldn't, however, bring in any expectation of reciprocity because it can distort the signals designed to increase the value of the platform for everyone.
I can see your point @lukestokes but the golden rule doesn't necessitate that person A and B like each other automatically. It might be person A likes person B and person B likes something that person D wrote but fails to participate. Across social media we've all seen folks who never reciprocate. We can all agree to not support what I call "like-a-sites" (like parasites) -folks that just want themselves upvoted all the time, or they think they are so big that they never have to read or support anyone else. That's the "me me me" of social networking and that's lame too. I took the Golden Rule in this post by @cjclaro as being more globally karmic than A--> B and B--->A.
The GOLDEN RULE also may be written as "Do unto others(1) as you would have others(2) do unto you." Others(1) may not necessarily be the same person/s in others(2). Thus I tend to agree with you on this
Thanks for your valuable insight @micheletrainer. Keep them coming. ;-)
Thanks for your comment and honest reaction @lukestokes. I do not disagree with you that this may lead to people upvoting less quality work. Conversely, this could also lead to high-quality content creations. The GOLDEN RULE cuts both ways. It is in our hands which one we lean towards more.
The statement “Upvote my post and I’ll do the same to yours.” is one I decided to use because I believe it is simple and rightly apparent in our current situation now. People return the favor of the good they have received. They follow the GOLDEN RULE. Now, if for example, I upvoted your post and you never returned the favor, I have no right to demand it from you nor you have any responsibility to do so. I myself may not want to upvote someone who might have upvoted me. We upvote because we believe there is VALUE in the post we read.
The GOLDEN RULE, although it is more on the positive note, as fas as I am concerned, is there to remind us not to do any harm to others thus protecting us from others who would want to inflict HARM to us.
I could have chosen the statement "Do not downvote my post and I will not downvote yours." And your argument may still prove to be valid.
This, to me, has little to do with what you clarified here:
They are separate concepts and when we combine them, psychologically, we involve reciprocity concepts which alter our perception of value and distort our judgement.
I agree that the first quoted paragraph has little to do with the second quoted text. That's why they are in separate paragraphs.
And I don't really see why combining them is such a bad idea. Would you please elaborate your case?
Are you familiar with reciprocity from a psychological perspective? Marketers use this trick all the time. I enjoyed the books Predictably Irrational and Thinking, Fast and Slow which talk about all kinds of interesting aspects of how human brains work and includes some of this stuff if you'd like to learn more.
I'm all about the golden rule on Steemit, but I don't think voting for someone because they voted for you should be encouraged because, as you said, voting should be based on the quality of the content. But, as I said in my original comment, I don't agree with:
Any way, thanks for letting me share my opinion. My goal is to increase the quality of the content here. I'd also love to see more people following the Golden Rule, but not via the votes. Maybe a good compromise would be, "Oh, that person voted for me. I'll check out their blog and look for something worth voting for." This, I do often, but more so with comments, not just votes.
My main concern is with "Hey, I liked your post. Can you go like mine?" spam I see often. It's not helpful, IMO, and often links to a post which has nothing to do with the original discussion. It's overly needy, in some ways, and puts people off, IMO.
Thanks @lukestokes for your brilliant insights. In the end, it is the good that we do to others that matters, whether it is voting or something else. I also learned a lot from your comments and will check out the books you mentioned. They do sound interesting.
Bring on the fungus among-us! Your intro is great too. Love the quotes! and of course, the biology!
Kind words are your gifts, @micheletrainer. Bless your heart ;-)
Oh and I love gardening. I am probably the only one who loves gardening without a garden LOL. And I love how nature works.