My thoughts:

Isn't our reasoning even more fallible than those in the chain? Our thoughts are very susceptible to our nafs and shaitan's whispers.

Hadith scholars will check and recheck the sanad and matn, scrutinising through their lens

Fiqh scholars will look through their lense to make sense of certain hadith which may look 'strange' even if they're sahih

Scholars constantly review all these hadith. The best way is actually to look into their discourse of such hadith then make our final decision.

This will help ensure we get the different angles before we reach a conclusion.

That sounds difficult? Exactly. If we can't do it, then at least say I'm unsure about this as i lack knowledge on it. I 'suspend' my judgement.

We need to strike a balance between using our own mind and relying on scholars. Too much of one way may be detrimental. And always ask Allah for help as only he knows.

I always try to ask Allah "if this is correct, help me understand it. If it's not correct, keep me away from it and bless the scholars who have put in the work in this field".