Is it true that the more a person knows the more intolerant they become?

Question

Is knowledge breeding intolerance?

Answer 1

Balance knowledge or universal knowledge is normally very tolerant..but i met quite a few very intelligent professional people who where very ignorant in relationship skills.... a lot of these professional have to devout so much time and energy to gain a masters or doctorate that they have very little time to cultivate themselves...very few people have the thirst (capacity) for knowledge in many fields that is required to know about psychology, anthropology etc in order to understand human behavior.

Answer 2

It depends on who they are.

It can be hard to accept something, Especially if they'd always thought the opposite. In that sense, the knowledge they find just may make them uneasy. Generally, when you are uncomfortable with something, you reject it, and rejection is a form of intolerance.

Answer 3

...knowledge breeds indifference when you know that is intolerable...

...NO!!!

Answer 4

Sure, if all you know from others is pain, abuse, insult, betrayal, deception, fraud, dishonesty, threat and the virtues of power, then naturally you are not going to tolerate any possible competition, threat to your safety, security, order, structure and predictability/reliability, but look at all you know. Is it any wonder you think that way.

Answer 5

Knowledge becomes a trapdoor spiders home unless the knowledge of the unavoidable connectedness with all of life, down to the most minute particle of dust, is integrated into it.  

Answer 6

i think the more a person knows, they should be more tolerant. wisdom, not intolerance= egnorance

Answer 7

Intolerant of how silly, stupid and actually dumb a society can become I think, is what is meant here.  Yes, to some extent.  When those that step out into the world and find answer or are looking for answers and think they have found them or understand certain concepts of what mankind is capable of, but yet find that the majority of those about them refuse to take upon themselves to search for the knowledge that might resolve some issues, they do become intolerant.  

Is knowledge breeding intolerance, perhaps because the old saying "familiarity breeds contempt" certainly can be applied here.  those that actually have what we call knowledge, are a foot up on the rest of us, they know it and they like it and the shove it down our throats.

Answer 8

you would like to think people would become more tolerant

Answer 9

It is not so much what a person knows, as how the person decides to act upon that knowledge. There are many learned people who have caused much destruction in the world. But, there are also many learned people who temper their knowledge with wisdom and become a force for good in the world. Knowledge in and of itself is just knowledge. It is a tool. Therefore, how it is used is of crucial importance.

Answer 10

I don't think so, but it's probably the case that when you take in a lot of information, a lot of it conflicting, you go through a period of nihilism where everything seems relative and there are no truths.

It takes some time to sort this out, but eventually a point of view emerges.

Answer 11

I agree.  Especially the more people learn about this planet, the more intolerant they become as well.  I was always wise beyond my years...:)

Answer 12

This is counterintuitive. It is ignorance rather than knowledge that builds intolerance,

Answer 13

The more of Dr Lecter I read the more intolerant I become of what he writes.  LOL!

Other than that, I guess I just haven't memorized enough stuff yet.

Answer 14

No, ignorance breeds intolerance. Experience and knowledge does just the opposite. Bigotry, which stems from ignorance, by very definition, makes reference to those who are intolerant of opinions, lifestyles, or identities that differ from one's own. So, perhaps, only thinking one "knows" breeds intolerance.

Answer 15

Of ignorance yes.

Answer 16

Intolerance of what exactly?

Answer 17

I doubt that. I know a few extremely intelligent people that are very open-minded. I think they're open-minded because they're intelligent.

My reasoning is because of this quote:

‘The fool doth think himself wise, but the wise man knows himself to be a fool.’

I can agree with you partially that intelligent people pay less attention to things they believe are small and insignificant.