Dogmatism is grey with no possibility of blue. It seeks to avoid grey, and generates nothing else.
On this theme, what, I wonder, is the connection between shame and emotional/intellectual rigidity? For whom is a stable sense of absolute certainty a welcome boon? What emotional pain does it soothe?
Put another way, in what emotional circumstances is the pain of confusion or uncertainty made unbearable?
I will ponder this today, maybe. My brain has a mind of its own (yes), so it may wander in some other direction, but it is an interesting question, and obviously one highly relevant for those of wondering what to make of the Maoist cult (without a Mao) materializing before us. The capacity for physical violence is plainly evident, as is of course the actual and continual use of political violence.