I believe that Jeremy C's long post is summed up nicely and concisely by Paul's words at Galatians 6:7. Put simply, 'you reap what you sow.' We must remember that the WTS, like the Jewish religious leaders who compiled the Talmud, wanted complete control over its followers. However, that kind of control comes at a great cost. It is likewise with many, though not all, of those who reach out for offices of oversight in the congregation. Those offices give their holders a measure of control over others, but they are bought at the cost of conforming to burdensome WTS rules. This is how the WTS culture is perpetuated down to the lowest levels. The result is a corps of people who have lost all power of objective thought and the ability to exercise free will. Hence, when a decision must be made, these people find their mental powers have atrophied to the point where they can't make the decision on their own and must turn that over to the higher authority represented by WTS publications, officers, and ultimately, the Governing Body. No wonder they're overwhelmed with questions on every subject under the sun!
Let me also say, as a holder of two college degrees, that you do not need a college education to develop critical thinking skills. That is a snare we don't want to fall into either. There are other ways to develop critical thinking that don't involve ever walking into a college classroom or laboratory or walking onto a college campus. What a college education does is hone the natural skills of the student to the point where s/he can make good contributions to the community and country in which s/he lives. I've known plenty of college educators who didn't have the sense God gave a goose but who were brilliant researchers and thinkers.
Quendi