yichusdik: At what point in our history did the guidance of our gedolim … turn into something completely different, i.e. a priori dictation to all of day to day decision making, ways of thinking, and even who to associate with or look at – without being asked a question about it first?
Are you saying that you think it became an assumption of what gedolim would say, or that gedolim did in fact become the dictators of day to day living?
If the former, than I would say that there will always be those that think they know what they don’t.
If the latter, I think t has to do with accessibility. In the past, going to see a gadol was an undertaking in travelling. You asked what was vital and did the best you could. Today’s yeshivah system allows for a relatively more intimate relationship. It is logical to try to emulate those that have reached a higher state of perfection than oneself.
That is not to say that there aren’t different drachim for different nitiyos. But most of those drachim can be found within the various gedolim that we have today. And even in the case of Rav Chaim, the story is that the Chazon Ish encouraged him in his derech halimud. I think even if one develops one’s own derech such as Rav Zilberberg and Rav Pincus, it is important to do so under the auspices of gedolim who have the ability to see the right of it.
Call it yeridas hadoros if you will, but everyone always thinks they are doing the right thing – even when its detrimental. I have seen/heard of cases of people “following their own derech” to a bad end. Maybe in the past, without all our psychological problems, this wasn’t an issue. Or maybe, we just don’t realize how much the gedolim of yesteryear actually did emulate their rabbonim to become what they became.