A doctor who has lived among his patients for decades is anchored in people, yet if they all defer to him, no one tells him when his advice is failing. A tradition anchors a thinker only while someone still asks "is this what it actually teaches?" Once it's just quoted, it stops anchoring anyone. Harm comes less from having the wrong anchor than from an anchor that can no longer say no or question and probe further. So the real question is who can still overrule this thinker. A community keeps its thinkers honest by keeping people around them who are able and willing to disagree.