I have been reading this thread quietly and with interest, but now I must intercede.
Dear Sam2,
Your vast halachic knowledge and derech ha’psak has caused you to steer yourself into a corner.Your insistence on written sources will lead you to a black hole once you investigate the issue.
Charlie Hall mentioned Haym Soloveitchik’s essay Rupture and Reconstruction. That was a short piece. If you take the time to read his new book Collected Essays I, and in addition, Jacob Katz’s Hahalachah B’meitzar, Yisrael Ta Shma’s books on medieval halachic literature, Auerbach’s Ba’alei Hatosafot, and Grossman’s Chachmei Ashkenaz Harishonim and Chachmei Tzarfat Harishonim,(this is a short list) you will see two phenomena:
1. Mesorah trumps the written word
2. Halachic innovation and Derech Halimud innovation trumps Mesorah
But Rupture and Reconstruction will be a good start.