Emunat chachomim mussar

I notice from a few of the previous threads that some of my readers are deficient in their emunat chachomim. Permit me to bring them up sharply.

Their basic mistake it this: They've learned Talmud but little else, so when a Rishon is found to have said something that disagrees with the Talmud their wee little heads explode. I see this happen all the time. The comedy continues when that attempt to shlug the rishon by referring back to the original Talmudic statement, with questions such as this: "How can the [Rishon] say that when its clear from the Gemarah that..."

It almost never occurs to these brave defenders of talmudic Judaism that maybe -just maybe! - their understanding of the Gemarah is inferior to the Rishon's understanding.