“One should always be wary of a book by a scholar insisting that there is a pattern where before none has been seen…”

One should always be wary of a book by a scholar insisting that there is a pattern where before none has been seen, since scholars have an overwhelmingly strong confirmation bias in favor of patterns—finding patterns is what scholars do.

Adam Gopnik, “June, Moon, Tune”, The New Yorker (6 & 13 July 2015), 80.