His advice to ignore dogmas reminds me of the best advice I received as a writer: learn the rules, then break them. There is a strange kind of dogma that says,

His advice to ignore dogmas reminds me of the best advice I received as a writer: learn the rules, then break them. There is a strange kind of dogma that says, “question everything, break all the rules, convention is always bad.” But this isn’t what Paul is saying. He says to shut out the voices. Avoid rejecting or accepting. Avoid being reactionary, whether in agreeing or disagreeing. This is good advice in any realm. Take in all data. Remove all bias. Generate meaningful truth. Follow that truth with an eye to fueling passion. And take every obstacle as merely an additional data point — an opportunity to fine-tune truth and enhance our passion for it.