Tolerant

1. Intro

Tolerant people are more likely to feel positive emotions (e.g. happiness, life satisfaction) and less likely to experience negative emotions (e.g. anger, sadness). Tolerant people may be able to achieve higher levels of emotional well-being than those who are less tolerant or who are not tolerant at all (unless they themselves exhibit high levels of intolerance).

2. What is a Tolerance?

There are many ways of saying “I’m tolerant of transgender people”. One way is to say “I’m tolerant of the idea that one ought to be a feminist, regardless of their gender identity”. The other is to say “I’m tolerant of the fact that trans people can be feminists and also women who have been assigned male at birth.” The latter could be called “a more inclusive, non-binary approach to feminism”; the former is “a more inclusive, non-transgender approach to feminism.” The point here is not to pick one or the other among those approaches; it is not even a matter of picking one or the other among those ideas or identities. It is simply a matter of understanding how they differ from one another and trying to find some common ground between them (and in doing so you may find something you think has two different meanings but that actually has only one). A tolerance for something means an acceptance of it even if you don’t like it through no fault of your own, an acceptance even though you don’t find it pleasant or convenient, an acceptance even though there are parts of it which seem terrible or make you uncomfortable, etc. An intolerance for something means a rejection despite being able to see its benefits, because there are parts which make you uncomfortable or make your life unpleasant (this problem could also be called “a problem with tolerance”).

3. How to Increase Your Tolerance

We all have our own personal views; and there is no doubt that we can all be intolerant of things that are not in line with our own. The problem is, we are all intolerant of other people. When someone comes along and tells us something that contradicts what we believe to be true, we experience a range of emotions:• Anger: It is one thing to say it is true, but it is quite another to have the guts to tell us so. Invariably, this leads to rage and the beginnings of a shouting match.• Disgust: We are disgusted by what the person has said; and equally so, by the way it has been said (it may not fit our personal world view). However, if we start throwing around insults and call them names, this only makes matters worse.• Dismay: This feeling of being deeply disappointed at the person who dared contradict us leads us to turn away from them entirely. Such reactions are common among people who find themselves confronted by conflicting views. But they can be dangerous as well — one study showed that when three participants were exposed to two opposing perspectives on an issue, those who could identify with one side were more likely than others to shift their own position more than those who couldn’t choose which side they supported. The researchers concluded that when an argument was presented in a “one-sided” manner (i.e., one perspective was presented as being correct), people tended to show greater bias in their response toward that perspective instead of shifting toward the other side’s point of view . A similar phenomenon known as moral outrage occurs spontaneously in some people when they experience discomfort or discomforting events. Opposing views about controversial issues often produce strong negative emotions within individuals — including anger and disgust — without any need for factual information supporting either side’s perspective. In such cases , feelings of moral outrage can function as a powerful motivator for people to change their behavior, even in situations where such behavior would be irrational or counterproductive. It seems as though our normal incongruence between what we believe to be true and what others believe isn’t enough anymore; especially amid rapidly changing opinions on sensitive topics like immigration or climate.

4. The Benefits of Having a High Degree of Tolerance

Just because something is unpleasant, does not mean that it doesn’t possess any value. For example, a person who has a high tolerance for pain will be able to bear it with very little discomfort and still function normally. They will be able to experience pain without being overwhelmed. Their tolerance will therefore provide them with resilience—the ability to continue living despite the trauma and suffering that are part of life. A high degree of tolerance is an important trait for creating an optimal online presence: in fact, it is one of the most important traits for your online presence. As such, we should work on increasing our level of tolerance and you should work on building that level up as well (e.g., don’t make other people uncomfortable).

5. Conclusion

Let’s face it: people are different. Some people are more sensitive to subtle things and others are less sensitive, some people find it healthy to keep a distance from stimuli, others can’t deal with the pressure that comes with being in the spotlight. Just like there is no “typical” personality, there is also no “typical” behavior either. And that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try to be as open-minded as possible, or not to judge anyone; it just means that our approach should be based on a realistic assessment of each person’s abilities and capabilities. The three personality types described by Maslow in his hierarchy of needs are the introvert (low tolerance for stress), the extrovert (low tolerance for ambiguity), and the individualistic (low tolerance for stress).I think we can profit from these categories as a starting point in trying to understand ourselves better.