Tolerance
Tolerance, in a social, cultural and religious sense, is the acceptance of other people who hold different and disagreeing beliefs, or otherwise represent ideologies or cultures that have a history of being disrespected. More generally the term is used with regard to behavior that is not mainstream/normal.Tolerance is weaker than respect: a disagreeable party may still be disapproved of, and interaction may be limited to what is necessary, the disagreeable party is simply left undisturbed.
Tolerance cannot be neutral about what is good, though, for its very purpose is to guard good and avert evils. The circumstantial element in the practice of tolerance is right judgment of greater ends against lesser ends.
The term is also used with a more negative connotation with regard to unorderly conduct and small crimes; e.g. there may be a zero tolerance policy towards drugs and violence.
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2 Tolerance in Engineering 3 Tolerance in Physiology 4 See also 5 External Link |
As an Aristotelian virtue, tolerance is a mean between softheadedness on the one hand (overtolerance) and narrow mindedness on the other (undertolerance).
In Christianity, with regard to the one's former way of life, there is a need to put off the old self which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires (prejudice, bigotry, and intolerance), and be renewed in the spirit of the mind. There is also a corresponding need to put on the new self, which was created to be like God, in righteousness and true holiness (tolerance, forbearance, and leniency).
In engineering, tolerance is an allowance made for imperfections in a manufactured object. For example, an electrical specification might call for a resistor with a nominal value of 100 ohms, but should also state a tolerance such as "+/- 1%". This means that any resistor with a value in the range 99 ohms to 101 ohms is acceptable. It would not be reasonable to specify a resistor with a value of exactly 100 ohms, because such a resistor cannot be made. It is good practice to specify the largest possible tolerance, to make manufacturing easier and to keep costs down.
In physiology, tolerance occurs when an organism builds up a resistance to the effects of a substance after repeated exposure. This can occur with environmental substances such as salt or pesticides. It is also commonly encountered in pharmacology, when a subject's reaction to a drug (such as a painkiller or intoxicant) decreases so that larger doses are required to achieve the same effect. See drug tolerance; tachyphylaxis and desensitization.Tolerance as a Virtue
Tolerance in Engineering
Tolerance in Physiology
