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...no other search engines come close to the amount of info google offers.
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For a quick search without clicking, that’s true. But you can get the same sites with less pre-click info as well as sites goog puts way back on page 3 or so on any other search engine. Goog prioritizes searches that cover the commonly asked questions and ‘people also searched for...’ lists on the search return page.

Some quick facts, maybe out-of-date:

94% of all internet usage involves Google in some manner.

Only 5% of all searches on goog result in a click-thru.

Rich snippets accounted for more click-thrus than goog’s pre-digested lists of questions.

Sales conversions for goog searches is 3%.

If you think your searches are turning up cloned articles, they probably are. Content marketers are trained to accommodate goog’s algorithm in outline, subheadings and attention to the ‘questions asked’ and ‘also searched for’.
You want answers and goog says it wants searcher satisfaction, but that is more about format and a hit-the-high-points approach if a site wants to be in the 1st page goog returns.

You may just find more authoritative content on the first page of other search engines. For example, I’ve found better medical information on the 1st page of StartPage returns. StartPage seems to prioritize keywords and base authority on expertise, while goog seems to depend a lot on backlinks.

I’m not sure how the dumbing down of the population is affecting goog’s search results, but I suspect it plays a role. More people may click on a general knowledge blog site than an NIH study abstract.