So on one side you run a T-test to see if the correlation is significant.
This is an incredibly gross simplification of applying statistical theory. I suggest you pick up some texts on inference, Bayesian stats, and probability theory to learn how stats != "running t-tests".
He was clearly just picking one useful tool that stats provides, not stating that it was the entirety of statistics.
I'm not making any statement about whether I agree with him, but if you disagree you will have to claim that he is cherry picking one useful and one useless skill, not just say that there is more to stats than t-tests.
On the other side you have the ability to phrase it as a question in the same language as Aristotle.