Is Graduate School a Cult?

...Thomas Benton asks. I miss IA; she'd get a great discussion started on this topic. Benton asks us to review this taxonomy of cult tactics and see if it sounds familiar.

Behavior control: "major time commitment required for indoctrination sessions and group rituals"; "need to ask permission for major decisions"; "need to report thoughts, feelings, and activities to superiors."



Information control: "access to non-cult sources of information minimized or discouraged (keep members so busy they don't have time to think)" and "extensive use of cult-generated information (newsletters, magazines, journals, audio tapes, videotapes, etc.)."



Thought control: "need to internalize the group's doctrine as 'Truth' (black and white thinking; good vs. evil; us vs. them, inside vs. outside)" and "no critical questions about leader, doctrine, or policy seen as legitimate."



Emotional control: "excessive use of guilt (identity guilt: not living up to your potential; social guilt; historical guilt)"; "phobia indoctrination (irrational fears of ever leaving the group or even questioning the leader's authority; cannot visualize a positive, fulfilled future without being in the group; shunning of leave takers; never a legitimate reason to leave"; and "from the group's perspective, people who leave are 'weak,' 'undisciplined.'"

'Fraid so.
Edited to add: Like Dennis, I'm having a pretty good experience. Some days this taxonomy does indeed strike me as familiar (especially the guilt part), but on the whole, I like grad school, and I think Jeff makes some good points about the article.