- Golden Rule: treat others in the way you would like to be treated
- Silver Rule: don't treat others in a way you would not like to be treated.
The difference is subtle, but important.
Another way to put it: when in doubt, don't interact.
You can parse the sentence by evaluating the parenthesis first, "a way you would not like to be treated.". Let's think of a few ways you would not like to be treated. I don't want other people to
* Scream at me
* Insult me
* Put words in my mouth.
Then it says "don't treat others" in such a way.
A gotcha here is that not liking something is not exactly logical inverse of liking something. Liking something means positive feelings. Not liking something means negative feelings. Feeling neutral is a third category, not included in either.