How noteworthy is it that NYT bypassed this altogether:
Children who don’t peek at the toy in the first place are actually the smartest of all, but they are a rarity.
So, it’s not those who lie who are smart; it’s those who are honest enough not to cheat. The ones falsely identified as smart by the NYT are those who cheat, but then aren’t so dumb as to not recognize that they are contradicting their behavior.
You caught the key point of the article.
An honest person would have read the study, picked up on “children who don’t peek at the toy in the first place are actually the smartest of all, but they are a rarity,” and asked how to make that outcome more common.
A journalist at the nation’s premium #FakeNews source reads the study and picks up on “why do some children start lying at an earlier age . . . the short answer is that they are smarter” and asks if teaching them to lie makes them score higher on IQ tests.
I’m sure it makes them feel better about the example they are setting for their children and about the work they do at the NY Times. Besides, lying makes them better liars, which makes them smarter. That’s what matters, isn’t it?