Cognitive Castration

"Cognitive Castration" names both the process and the effect of much of school.

The Process: The subject is invited to offer personal opinions in a free intellectual environment. Those opinions which do not meet with rapidly-evolving standards in what it is considered decent to think or believe, are punished with the emotion of shame, preferably inflicted by a group.

The Effect: A person who reacts to the inevitable cognitive dissonance with displays of emotion, not with introspection and reason.

It is generally not possible to reason a person out of cognitive castration. They were never reasoned into it in the first place.

It may be possible to shame them out of it.