Both rules can go wrong in some situations. "Treat others as you want to be treated" fails when the other person prefers other things than you do. Like when yo

Both rules can go wrong in some situations. "Treat others as you want to be treated" fails when the other person prefers other things than you do. Like when your cat keeps bringing you the delicious dead mice. "Treat others as they want to be treated" fails when you believe that other people want something they actually don't (and which would be obvious if you would try imagining yourself in their shoes). For example if you believe that women or blacks actually want to be treated as inferior -- and they may even agree with you if they are brainwashed by the society to believe so. That is, you can go wrong both by ignoring existing differences, and by imagining nonexistent ones.