In the beginning, it’s incredibly useful to worship what I call “intermediary gods” (ideals like toughness, gurus, discipline, etc. etc.), but as one progresses, it’s very likely they will encounter nuanced situations where those ideals become hindrances. It doesn’t mean they should abandon these ideals, it just means that if they cling blindly to them under all circumstances, they risk turning an intermediary god into a false one, and they will suffer greatly for it.
That’s one of my interpretations of: “Doctrine is the last refuge of the unimaginative.”
Dirty Sci-Fi Buddha 
I agree, a ridged adherence to doctrine breeds contempt.
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Pretty cool stuff. I think it says something to develop increasingly complex beliefs while being able to condense them into a single ‘feeling’ (Mike)
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Indeed! That’s a way to word a noble human endeavor—to venture forth into the dragon’s lair (the randomness of unexplored complexity) and bring back the gold (structuring the knowledge into a practical, simple reward that others can use)
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Sort of like climbing a ladder. You kinda have to hold and let go at the same time as you climb higher.
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Attachment to anything becomes a hindrance.
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At the height of chaos, doctrine and training can see you through. During times of calm progress, rigid adherence to dogma will strangle your creativity and dreams.
Good post Dirty.
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Thanks! According to subject matter expert Jocko Wilink, however, doctrine and training will allow you the basic fundamentals that provide enough order to think up creative solutions which chaos requires. His advanced training wasn’t so much to reinforce the basics, as to teach his troops how to transcend them. I tend to agree with him; basics are needed to provide a strong, stable foundation, but then audacity and creativity are needed to overcome the diciest and most ambiguous challenges. Sorry if I come off as an obnoxious contrarian, just my humble opinion. 🙂
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Contrarian? Human maybe… (I think.)
> doctrine and training will allow you the basic fundamentals that provide enough order to think up creative solutions which chaos requires.
Well said.
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Thank you! 😀
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