Overlooking The Obvious. On Purpose?

I doubt it is on purpose.  I think they really cannot see because they cannot see.

A study on intelligence in children was published referenced in New Scientist. The short version is the revelation that children whose parents are wealthier have larger brains. The quote that sent me through the office ceiling this morning is halfway down the page:

But Franck Ramus of the École Normale Supérieure in Paris says the researchers did not go far enough to account for the effect of genetic variation.

Did not go far enough? They didn't go anywhere! They went to zero depth on that question. I look at this and ask "what is the point of this study at all?" By the experiment's design, if genetic or prenatal influence were not simply a factor, but were in fact everything, it would be entirely invisible to them.

In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: "'You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving." Matthew 13:14

I was distressed to see that both Greg Cochran and James Thomson posted on this before me. I thought I had a scoop for a minute there. Ah well. Not all of you read them, so this spreads the net wider. Thomson has nice detail, and Cochran has his usual collection of fire-breathers aboard, which is always fun.