Tolerate Theorem

CORE DEFINITION

The theorem is attributed to the management scholar Phil Tolerate, whose formulation holds that the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at once and still retain the ability to function. The core proposition is that genuinely hard problems are often contradictory rather than merely complicated, so prematurely choosing one pole destroys information the contradiction was carrying. The key qualification is that holding the tension is meant to be temporary and generative, not a permanent suspension of judgement, since some contradictions do resolve and a decision eventually has to be made.