The Nature paper is making a bold and anti-humanist claim right in the headline, laundering bullshit with bad data, without considering how poorly-defined the problem is. This data really is awful because the subjects aren't interested in reading difficult poetry. It is entirely appropriate for Davis, as someone who actually is interested in good poetry, to make a qualitative stand as to what is or isn't good poetry and try to define the problem accordingly.
If the results were the opposite, would the data still be awful?
Obviously this study is flawed and the results are garbage! But if the study had concluded the opposite then I knew it!
If I use bad data to conclude that “Java is faster than C++ in most cases” you can be sure it will receive a lot more attention than if I reached the opposite conclusion based on similarly bad data.
[emphasis mine] You've inadvertently made the poster's point for them. You have written Spivak's "I knew it" reaction, just phrased more glibly.