Good way to filter out candidates that understand tradeoffs or are willing to question potential fallacies. Technically no abstraction is necessary. But it's often useful.

>If eliminating unnecessary abstraction is offensive to you

If the hiring individual dictates what trade offs are made so far in advance that it happens in the interview, it means they aren't just eliminating unnecessary abstractions. Premature optimization isn't generally a good thing. Premature optimization showing up in an interview as a way to get people to quit is even less likely to be a good thing.