If questioning why certain people + orgs want to push/parrot a self-fulfilling narrative is "wearing a tinfoil hat", I'll gladly buy the whole tin foil aisle in the local grocery store.
You don't even know which came first, the facts or the belief. Stop pretending like this is "science" when the only thing that matters is whether or not we choose to believe we can find common ground.
> Stop pretending like this is "science"
The organization in question is literally called the American Association for the Advancement of Science. It doesn't really get more science-y than that in America.
And surveys in general are very much science (without quotes) indeed. Even if this one isn't peer-reviewed yet, which would be a criticism that I'd accept, but that doesn't seem to be what bothers you.
"What a total utter crock of shite the posts on this topic are! YC needs to pay better attention to nutball posting on their website."
I was clearly referring to YC posts on this topic. But now that you mention it, the entire source of this discussion is/are also an utter crock(s) of shite.
And I assure you, the term "crock of shite" indicates a serious questioning of the referred item(s).
So, FTFY!8-))
But the poster was only questioning the publisher's motives (which I think can't be done without looking at who the publisher is and what their incentives are, which the poster didn't do), without discussing the evidence at hand at all, and without any acknowledgement of the fact that their own reaction to this news might also be driven by what they want to be true.
To be honest I see these journals as getting to full of themselves and are turning into any other member of the American media.