Treating as Golden Rule
Updated 2026-08-22
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
The phrase refers to the gnomon and water level used to establish true measure, and by extension to adopting some person or doctrine as the standard to follow. As a thinking model it marks the point where a validated principle hardens into dogma. The qualification is that holding reliable principles is valuable, so the problem lies not in having standards but in exempting them from review and from the demands of context.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Use Standard Selection: state which verified principles you are treating as benchmarks and why. - Use Dogma Audit: schedule a review that asks what evidence would overturn each standard.
Anchor fast decisions
A benchmark saves decision cost by removing repeated deliberation, but the same mechanism stops new evidence from entering. Because the standard is no longer examined, its errors persist unchallenged, and the practice spreads through imitation until the original justification is forgotten.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%8F%AD%E5%9B%BAverified
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