I strongly agree with your sentiment that 'best practices' act as a replacement for critical thought, and lead to messy, overcomplicated and flawed architectur

I strongly agree with your sentiment that 'best practices' act as a replacement for critical thought, and lead to messy, overcomplicated and flawed architectures. Every "best practice" would be best delivered with a criteria list of when it's actually applicable, and a shortcomings list of situations where its not.