A powerful yet rarely perceptible trap in learning is a mimetic belief that we often acquire early on: that without an authority, when we learn, read, or consume content, the act of consumption itself takes on a moral character, deriving its morality from the social consensus of the author's reputation and the values they represent. However, this poses a problem, since consumption in and of itself cannot be inherently moral; you can test this by looking at a painting and enjoying it without knowing who painted it, or by reading the writing of an anonymous author.

This of course, is unless you are consuming something strictly because of what the author represents, and their work (art, writing, etc) is incidental. In this case, the reading of book is merely a byproduct of your affinity for the author as a symbol.

In fact, deliberately controlling the flow of new ideas blocks you from your initial objective, which is to develop and apply your judgment and intuition to discern what is right and sensible in an upward spiral of improvement. Rejecting certain works based on authorship betrays this intention; instead of committing to the spirit of the upward spiral, you are dissociating from it. By turning a blind eye to entire categories of viewpoints, you inadvertently bias yourself to validate the totality of the remaining perspectives. This doesn't necessarily reflect reality or the truth of those perspectives. This is more significant than a simple difference of opinion or dislike for an author, because truth exists on a spectrum, and you may unintentionally sacrifice both "weak" truths and "strong" truths before you can inspect them.

There are two extremes of truth: Weak truths, which are personal and locally relevant, such as individual preferences ("my favorite color is blue"); and Strong truths, which are universally applicable and axiomatic, like the laws of gravity and thermodynamics. Between them there is a vast continuum of progressive gradations. This topic could be a book in itself.

If your goal is truly to be effective against your goals, to build your intuition, and to be satisfied with the results of your life then the notion of whether you like, agree with, or even have knowledge of the author of work cannot be a factor at the outset of discovery. This is not an imperative, but it is (very) unlikely that you will become sufficiently equipped at each successive stage of your learning such that you will avoid consuming the work of an author who you have a personal moral opposition to. In fact, it is most likely that you will never know your relative position to them. To maintain commitment to your goal, The only real imperative is to cultivate a willingness (or even, a desire) to read, enjoy art, and consider ideas unbounded by the morality of your immediate social surroundings. Thus in order to maintain the upward spiral, which is your ultimate goal, you must maintain a willingness to draw wisdom from anywhere.