Emotions are the glue, the fuel, and the blinders of the Nincompoop structure.
If the Nincompoop mind is a house made of cognitive shortcuts, faulty assumptions, and overconfident guesses, then emotion is what holds it together and keeps the lights flickering. It’s the paint on the walls, the crooked foundation, and the reason no one ever bothers to fix the roof.
Shame is deeply social. It’s not about what you did, it’s about what others think of what you did. It plays on your public image, real or imagined. That’s what makes it such a potent societal mechanism. Entire cultures run on it — you don’t steal not because you believe it’s wrong, but because if your aunties find out, you’ll be branded as the family disgrace and mentally exiled forever. Shame is the invisible leash we wrap around ourselves. We internalise it so well, society doesn’t need to police us — we do it for them.