Thomas was so widely respected that nobody questioned his work for decades. We naturally encourage questioning honorable confidence in the abstract but rarely

Thomas was so widely respected that nobody questioned his work for decades. We naturally encourage questioning honorable confidence in the abstract but rarely in concrete actions. Serious question: Is there a field, or even a social context, in which doing so would actually be rewarded? And sort of related: Is a system for such questioning a necessity for a meritocracy or can a be meritocratic system still exist at the same time? I guess I just assume that, for example, companies claiming meritocracy were just actively ignoring organic social structures responsible for most of the honor hierarchies in the first place. I always thought social paradigms associated with enlightenment we’re essentially anti-structures to contend with this sort of thing. But doesn’t meritocracy in tech somehow seem to take those efforts for granted? I have never worked at these companies so I am really curious.