Desperate 'scientists'

Occasionally I read an article about scientists who apparently are desperaste to find something worth examining, or can't find it, or are just not competent. Like when a group of scientists 'found out' that flies have unusually quick reflexes.

Today I read an article announced on the frontpage of a local newspaper where a group of scientists at the University of California in San Diego around Prof. Nicholas Christenfeld and Hannah Tuller 'found out' that when two people have an argument it is easier to loosen up positions, understand the other person's point and settle the argument if you allow yourself to view things from their situation (and maybe even argue from that point, as in the experiment) and that you need empathy to be able/willing to do that.

Wow, yet again.

Those 'scientists' discovered something that pretty much everybody but sociopaths already knew.

If I look at some other works of Prof. Christenfeld, I begin to wonder (not really) how easy it can be to get a position as a university professor. I might be applying too rigid standards to myself.
I mean, OK, not everything they do has to be outstanding, but why is stuff like this making frontpages? Doesn't paint a good picture about the newspaper. (Not that I'd expect much from them, to be honest.)

If you wanted to take the making of this study seriously, it would create some interesting implications about the intellectual and emotional maturity of the USA, heh.