I get it but here is my theory.
When the rules are written in black and white, I follow them. As an electrical engineering student there were times I was expected to understand the rules and make things happen withing the rules set forth by physics, electrical theory or policy. In the Army I was given a set of rules and told to complete my mission (lead tank commander or scout gun truck commander) within those rules but everything else was up to me.
Is that not how this works? Task A must be completed within standard 1.2, task B must be completed within standard 2.7... As long as you meet or exceed that standard.... who cares?
Much of the argument here arise between pilot/owners who want to know stuff, and mechanics who do know the stuff. Some owners will dispute the aviation standard practices. Some mechanics will disagree with each other over stuff they've "always done that way." Some mechanics will keep using procedures that were obsoleted a long time ago by service bulletins, service letters or maintenance manual revisions. Some owners will insist that their way is the right way because they do it that way on their cars.
There is latitude in a lot of things. Some guys tighten sparkplugs for 40 years without a torque wrench and get away with it, while others will do that and overtorque the plugs repeatedly until the threads tear out of the head. Rare, but it happens. Sparkplug threads are big and somewhat forgiving. If they tighten 1/4" bolts and nuts without a wrench, overtorquing is far more likely, and bolts break. I've seen stretched and broken AN4 bolts on brake calipers. Had to very carefully remove a broken AN4 bolt out of the retract actuators in a 182RG. The threaded end was broken off below flush in the airframe casting, and if I couldn't get it out, half the airplane would have had to come apart to get that casting out. The airframe is built around it.
When it comes right down to it, a lot of pilots and owners just don't know how much there is to know when a mechanic studies and apprenctices for his ticket. It's like this:
I got my PPL in a few hours of study and flight, totalling maybe 100 hours. It took me a bit longer to get the commercial. The IFR and Instructor ratings took a while, too. Altogether there was less than maybe 15 months work. My Aircraft Maintenance Engineer ticket (Canadian A&P-IA) took me four years (7200 hours minimum) of apprenticeship and the equivalent of two years of study. A student pilot in Canada can solo at 14 years of age, hold the PPL at 17, Commercial at 18, but that AME ticket only goes to someone 21 or older. All that says something about the time it takes to acquire the skills and knowledge to be a mechanic.
Aviation is rewarding but terribly unforgiving. There is no place for flippancy in it, whether in flying or maintaining. It will kill you.
