I don't know if I agree with that. I think Alton was vastly more New Guard, Question Tradition than many of the other notable celebrity chefs and cooks during his come up. If you want to talk about people enforcing tradition, let's take a look at Giada DeLaurentis, or hell even Rachel Ray whenever it comes to anything with Sicilian origin.

I think the Old Guard mentality is vastly more rigid about these sort of traditions and giving people a critical understanding of the processes behind cooking doesn't, at least to me, imply any kind of singular authoritarian approach to cuisine.

edit: typos and cleaning up for clarity