The ability to be tolerant is a fundamental psychological characteristic, in many aspects. It favors our propensity to live in culturally rich societies, and is also a gateway to new knowledge.
In this article we will see a series of tips on how to be more tolerant since tolerance is a behavioral dynamic that can be learned.
Getting used to being more tolerant gives us two types of benefits.
On the one hand, assuming that the human being is a social animal, it helps us to have more contacts with people of many types, which means have human capital of individuals with whom we can carry out actions for mutual benefit
It is not in vain that loneliness is linked to a greater propensity to have a poor quality of life, and on the other hand, having contact with a wide variety of people is very useful in many aspects.
On the other hand, be tolerant of others as well. exposes us to more and greater intellectual stimuli Being in contact with points of view different from our own makes it more difficult for us to be manipulated based on stereotypes and prejudices, and it also makes us wiser.
We may not agree with a series of ideas and values ​​that others include in their lives, but knowing them firsthand and not just through hearsay makes our notions about those perspectives different from our own more nuanced and honest.
Given the above, let’s now learn about several habits and strategies that help us be more tolerant.
1. Be aware of your own biases
First of all, it is very important to be aware that when we come across contradicting ideas, we tend to use many intellectual traps to assume from the beginning that these are just mistaken beliefs and irrational.
Of course, sometimes we will be right and other people’s ideas will be full of logical contradictions and explanatory gaps, but even if they are very valid and even better than ours, the fact that they are seen as incompatible with our beliefs will cause us to be rejected.
Fortunately, simply being aware of this semiconscious predisposition It opens the door for us to stop and consider whether those ideas are really legitimate or not However, this is only a first step, and in itself it does not make us more tolerant, although it is necessary to undertake the strategies that we will see below.
2. Play devil’s advocate
This is one of the most useful tips on how to be more tolerant, as it involves making a conscious effort to defend ideas with which we disagree and attack our own. Is about a kind of mental simulation to see how the other’s beliefs fit reality or what is right, compared to our own.
Doing this requires some time and effort, it is not enough to dedicate a few seconds to this task. Other people’s points of view are often more complex than we can imagine in a matter of fractions of a minute so we must create a mental representation that is faithful to what someone who doesn’t think like us is really thinking.
When we try to be more tolerant, we usually do so by focusing on our attitudes toward groups. For example, we want to be more tolerant of certain individuals as representatives of a religion or way of thinking shared by many people. Therefore, it is important to make sure that when forming a rich and nuanced opinion about these groups, we make sure that we look at people who truly represent them.
While each individual is unique, There are people who are more representative of a group than others ; For example, someone who has been in prison for participating in terrorist activities linked to ultra-conservative nationalism will probably not be a good representative of all the inhabitants of their country.
4. Dialogue and focus on the arguments
Dialogue and the use of arguments and ways of thinking based on rationality is a way to connect with others based on common ideas. Therefore, it is important that the dialogue, necessary to be more tolerant, places emphasis not primarily on feelings, but on the reasoning behind different ways of feeling and behaving of each other.
In this way, by explaining in the most rational way possible why we think what we think and do what we do, we will move further away from intolerance and we will be more likely to understand those who do not think like us.
5. Be willing to change your mind
Becoming more tolerant requires certain sacrifices, and this is the main one. We must not only want to internalize and accept the ways of living and reasoning of others; We must also be willing to that others show us that they are right and we are not Assuming this is an exercise in humility that some people find difficult to do, but it is essential to open up to others and not fall into fanaticism.
