Summarized from the epilogue of Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman, itself a pretty compelling read that summarizes the real world flaws and scholarship foibles of most negative philosophical and psychological research about man’s beastly nature (e.g. Machiavelli, Lord of the Flies, the Stanford Prison Experiment, etc) and instead argues that we are, on the whole, decent.
No. 1: When in doubt, assume the best
No. 2: Think in win-win scenarios
No. 3: Ask more questions
No. 4: Temper your empathy, train your compassion
No. 5: Try to understand the other, even if you don’t get where they are coming from.
No. 6: Love your own as others love their own.
No. 7: Avoid the news
No. 8: Don’t punch Nazis
No. 9: Come out of the closet: Don’t be ashamed to do good
No. 10: Be realistic
“Don’t punch Nazis” absolutely requires some context/explanation, but I don’t want the ruin the great story it derives from.