I would say that once you read “the” book on some topic (or a series of such books) and then encounter snippets of the material here and there, you (I) begin to

I would say that once you read “the” book on some topic (or a series of such books) and then encounter snippets of the material here and there, you (I) begin to notice how much information is recycled and repackaged for different audiences, or like you say becomes “bleak extract at best, and mostly bullshit at worst.”