Regimented versus fuzzy thinking

   There are two very different ways to get it wrong. One is to have excessively regimented thinking, the other is to have excessively fuzzy thinking.

   Regimented thinking can be a very good and efficient thing up to a point. A person simply does what he is told and when ordered enforces such behavior on others. It can be efficient because it saves quite much testing of bad ideas and unproductive philosophical speculation.

   However, regimented thinking only works well when the authorities the regiments recognize are good authorities. Sometimes the regiments ally themselves with people who ought not have authority.

   Sometimes the regiments only recognize their own authority. In that case errors can accumulate over time because they start misreading and misapplying their own rules or because they lack the skills to adjust to new information.

   Fuzzy thinking doesn't sound like it could be good for much, and indeed no one should deliberately choose to be vague or unnecessarily nebulous. Sometimes however it just happens even when people do try their best to avoid it. It can be difficult for example to define "love" in an exact way. It can be difficult to define "murder" in an exact way. Some concepts appear to be hopelessly fuzzy. Some ideas can be very abstract and for that reason remain especially difficult for a community to manage.  Some complications just cannot fit more simple "black and white" language ever.

   Beyond the "necessary" fuzziness there can be very excessive fuzziness.  That is the other way to go wrong.  When nothing ever connects well to reality that sort of thinking can be a terrible nuisance and even very destructive.