Are you ready?
OK.
Here goes:
Check the footnotes.
What? That’s it?!
That’s it.
Is that what first made you into a cynic?
Yes. I started doing that with Torah books.
Is this true in other disciplines?
I suspect so. The great Thomas [Just the facts, ma’am!] Sowell says checking footnotes made him into a cynic (minute 16:33-17:26 here).
As he says:
“That will turn you into a cynic in a very short time.”
(Sowell is speaking about Piketty’s book, but it sounds like he means it in a general way.)
Wait, what will I discover?
Try it for yourself!
P.S., Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein writes in: I can confirm that your עצה works.