Indoctrination is the process of inculcating a person with ideas, cognitive strategies or professional methodologies. Humans are a social animal inescapably shaped by cultural context, thus some degree of indoctrination is implicit in the parent–child relationship, has an essential function in forming stable communities of shared values; the precise boundary between education and indoctrination lies in the eye of the beholder. Some distinguish indoctrination from education on the basis that the indoctrinated person is expected not to question or critically examine the doctrine they have learned; as such the term may be used pejoratively or as a buzz word in the context of political opinions, religious dogma or anti-religious convictions. The word itself came about in its first form in the 1620s as endoctrinate, meaning to teach or to instruct, was modeled from French or Latin; the word only gained the meaning of imbuing with an opinion in the 1830s. The term is linked to socialization. Matters of doctrine have been divisive in human society dating back to antiquity.

The expression attributed to Titus Lucretius Carus in the first century BCE quod ali cibus est aliis fuat acre venenum remains pertinent. In the political context, indoctrination is analyzed as a tool of class warfare, where institutions of the state are identified as "conspiring" to maintain the status quo; the public educational system, the police, mental health establishment are a cited modus operandi of public pacification. In the extreme, an entire state can be implicated. George Orwell's book Nineteen Eighty-Four famously singled out explicit, state-mandated propaganda initiatives of totalitarian regimes. Opinions differ on whether other forms of government are less doctrinaire, or achieve the same ends through less obvious methods. Religious indoctrination, the original sense of indoctrination, refers to a process of imparting doctrine in an authoritative way, as in catechism. Most religious groups among the revealed religions instruct new members in the principles of the religion. Mystery religions require a period of indoctrination before granting access to esoteric knowledge.

As a pejorative term, indoctrination implies forcibly or coercively causing people to act and think on the basis of a certain ideology. Some secular critics believe that all religions indoctrinate their adherents, as children, the accusation is made in the case of religious extremism. Sects such as Scientology use personality tests and peer pressures to indoctrinate new members; some religions have commitment ceremonies for children 13 years and younger, such as Bar Mitzvah and Shichi-Go-San. In Buddhism, temple boys are encouraged to follow the faith; some critics of religion, such as Richard Dawkins, maintain that the children of religious parents are unfairly indoctrinated. However, indoctrination can occur, does occur with great frequency, in non-religious or anti-religious contexts. For example, in the 20th century, the former People's Socialist Republic of Albania and the former USSR instituted programs of government-sponsored atheistic indoctrination in order to promote state atheism Marxist–Leninist atheism, within their citizenry.

Sabrina P. Ramet, a professor of political science, documented that "from kindergarten onward children indoctrinated with an aggressive form of atheism" and "to denounce parents who follow religious practices at home." However, after the death of Albania's leader, Enver Hoxha in 1985, his successor, Ramiz Alia, adopted a tolerant stance toward religious practice, referring to it as "a personal and family matter." Émigré clergymen were permitted to officiate at religious services. Mother Teresa, an ethnic Albanian, visited Tirana in 1989, where she was received by the foreign minister and by Hoxha's widow. In December 1990, the ban on religious observance was lifted, in time to allow thousands of Christians to attend Christmas services. In the former Soviet Union, "science education Soviet schools used as a vehicle for atheistic indoctrination", with teachers being instructed to prepare their course "so as to conduct anti-religious educations at all times," in order to comport with state-sanctioned Marxist–Leninist values.

However, in 1997, several years after the fall of the Soviet Union, the Russian government passed a law recognizing religion as being important to Russian history with Orthodox Christianity, Russia's traditional and largest religion, declared a part of Russia's "historical heritage." The initial psychological preparation of soldiers during training is referred to as indoctrination. In the field of information security, indoctrination is the initial briefing and instructions given before a person is granted access to secret information. Acculturation Behavior modification Groupthink Habermas and the Problem of Indoctrination Encyclopedia of Philosophy of Education

Discover is a credit card brand issued in the United States. It was introduced by Sears in 1985; when launched, Discover did not charge an annual fee and offered a higher-than-normal credit limit, features that were disruptive to the existing credit card industry. A subsequent innovation was "Cashback Bonus" on purchases. Most cards with the Discover brand are issued by Discover Bank the Greenwood Trust Company. Discover transactions are processed through the Discover Network payment network. In 2005, Discover Financial Services acquired Pulse, an electronic funds transfer network, allowing it to market and issue debit and ATM cards. In February 2006, Discover Financial Services announced that it would begin offering Discover debit cards to other financial institutions, made possible by the acquisition of Pulse. Discover is the fourth largest credit card brand in the U. S. behind Visa, MasterCard and American Express, with nearly 44 million cardholders. At the time Discover was introduced, Sears was the largest retailer in the United States.

It had purchased the Dean Witter Reynolds brokerage organization and Coldwell, Banker & Company in 1981 as an attempt to add financial services to its portfolio of customer services. Ray Kennedy, Sr, father of country singer Ray Kennedy and the credit manager for Sears, conceived the card; the actual launch was pushed through by Philip J. Purcell and Mitchell M. Merin, the company's senior vice president for corporate administration and manager of financial analysis, respectively. Together with the Discover Card, this was named the Sears Financial Network. Early Discover cards bore a small embossed symbol representing the Sears Tower the company's headquarters. Discover was part of Dean Witter, Morgan Stanley, until 2007, when Discover Financial Services became an independent company. Novus was once the major processing center; the Novus logo was replaced by the Discover Network logo. Unlike other attempts at creating a credit card to rival MasterCard and Visa, such as Citibank's Choice card, Discover gained a large national consumer base.

It carried no annual fee, uncommon at the time, offered a higher credit limit than similar cards. Cardholders could earn a "Cashback Bonus", in which a percentage of the amount spent would be refunded to the account, depending on how much the card was used. A 1989 study found that Discover had strong consumer adoption in the U. S.. Discover was noteworthy for being the only credit card accepted by the U. S. Customs Service to pay customs duty, effective February 19, 1987. Since it did not charge a percentage fee to retailers, unlike Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover was the only credit card accepted at Sam's Club; the plan to create a one-stop financial-services center in Sears stores was not as successful as Sears had hoped, its promotion of Discover was thought both to hurt Sears turnover and to restrict the card's potential. Other retailers resisted it. Sears began to face difficulties in the late 1980s in light of these developments, with strong competition both from Walmart and from so-called category killers such as Toys "R" Us.

Discover's introduction was costly. Sears sold its financial businesses in 1993 and began to accept MasterCard and Visa in addition to its store credit card and Discover. Discover became part of the Dean Witter financial services firm. Dean Witter Discover merged with Morgan Stanley in 1997; the Greenwood Trust Company is based in Greenwood, Delaware. It was acquired by Discover Financial Services in 1985 and renamed Discover Bank in 2000; the first and original location of Greenwood Trust Co. on East Market Street is now the town hall and police station. Starting around 2005, to increase acceptance around the world, Discover has formed several agreements with other payment networks internationally; this allows Discover cardholders to perform transactions while traveling abroad. Some major examples include: Diners Club International worldwide BC Card in South Korea JCB in Japan RuPay in India TROY in Turkey UnionPay in China Verve in NigeriaIn 2015, due to the growth of Chinese card processor UnionPay, Discover became the world's most accepted card.

In October 2004, the Supreme Court upheld a ruling in Discover's favor that challenged exclusionary policies of Visa and MasterCard. Before this ruling and MasterCard would not allow banks to issue a Discover card if they issued a Visa or MasterCard. Within days of the court ruling, Discover filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking damages from Visa and MasterCard. Shortly after the 2004 Supreme Court ruling, Discover struck its first deal to have its cards issued by another financial institution, GE Consumer Finance, which began to issue credit cards for retailer Walmart and its wholesale warehouse stores, Sam's Club. Transactions were processed on the Discover Network. Sam's Club accepted Discover for many years. In April 2014, Walmart announced that they were ending their relationship with Discover and would begin converting all Discover-branded cards to Mastercard beginning in June 2014. HSBC has issued Discover-branded credit cards processed through the Discover Network since

Wachtell, Rosen & Katz is a law firm which operates out of a single office in New York City. The firm is known for business law handling the largest and most complex transactions; the firm was founded in 1965 by Herbert Wachtell and Jerry Kern, who were shortly afterwards joined by Martin Lipton, Leonard Rosen, George Katz. The four named partners met at New York University School of Law where they were editors on the New York University Law Review together; the firm rose to prominence on Wall Street when many brokers and investment bankers were launching small firms, but received little attention from established white-shoe law firms, such as Sullivan & Cromwell, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, Cravath, Swaine & Moore. One of the founding partners, Martin Lipton, invented the so-called "poison pill defense" during the 1980s, to foil hostile takeovers. Working both sides of mergers and acquisitions, Wachtell Lipton has represented blue-chip clients such as AT&T, JP Morgan Chase, it has had key roles in the resurrection of Chrysler in the 1970s, the acquisition of Getty Oil by Texaco, the negotiation of the master development agreement for the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The firm is known for its business litigation, has represented clients in many of the precedent-setting Delaware corporate governance cases. Wachtell, Rosen & Katz is considered to be one of the top firms in the country for major mergers and acquisitions and shareholder litigation and corporate restructurings. While many peer law firms have grown and become international brands, Wachtell has only a single, Manhattan office, it is one of the smallest firms in the AmLaw 100, but has highest per partner profits of any law firm and pays above market rate for associates. The firm pays its partners through a lockstep system, meaning that compensation is tied to firm seniority, rather than hours billed or business brought in; the same is true for associate bonuses. This compensation model has led to the firm being called the "last true partnership."The firm is best known for its work in mergers and acquisitions and been ranked #1 in Vault's M&A rankings for more than a decade. Vault has ranked it either #1 or #2 in the general Vault Law 100 for over fifteen years.

Along with rival Skadden, Arps, it was cited in Malcolm Gladwell's Outliers. Wachtell has been regarded as the "hardest firm in the U. S. to get a job in." William T. Allen, of counsel — former Chancellor of the Delaware Court of Chancery. S. Representative and Brooklyn District Attorney Robert J. Jackson Jr. associate — Commissioner of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission David Lat, associate — blogger, Underneath Their Robes and Above the Law Kenneth K. Lee, associate — judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit Robert Morgenthau, of counsel — former New York County District Attorney Bernard Nussbaum, partner — former White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton George Postolos, associate — former President and CEO of Houston Rockets Samuel Rascoff, associate — New York University School of Law professor Jed Rubenfeld, associate — Yale Law School professor Andrew Schlafly, associate — founder of Conservapedia, General Counsel for Association of American Physicians and Surgeons Richard J. Sullivan, associate — judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit White shoe firms The Magic Circle