why42

My rambling brain confounded a few studies I had read.

My mistake. I was incorrect about the study being related to adoptions. It was actually something interesting that happened in Germany. I had read an environmental interpretation of the Eyferth Study: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyferth_study

If our brain structures were different (at least in so far as the organization or distribution of cells within the cranium and not the external measurement) then one would expect adopted children from places where brains are very different to perform differently then peers in new locations.

Yet I remember reading a study that showed that black children from Africa adopted by white parents in Germany performed at the same level as their peers. There have been other such studies with very similar conclusions.

I can't believe this hasn't been brought up... but there is a massive conflict of interest here. And not due to the slimy but mostly above board reasons posted in the article.

It is deep rooted in the financial industry.

Misleading investors is not punished if you have a big business. Especially in tech.

Facebook stands to lose or gain billions of dollars on market capitalization based on how many people investors perceive to be on Facebook.

If Facebook is over-reporting users by any size multiple, they stand to get billions in additional valuation. The people using fake accounts don't want to get caught, as they make money from them.

Given the above, how can anyone realistically expect Facebook to really commit to cleaning up fake accounts? This isn't just for Facebook.

Big business has proven to be beyond prosecution unless they engage in the most outrageous behavior.