I disagree with you, and also with your friend. Reading speed does not exist in a vacuum, and it’s absolutely correct to push for more specific context if you ask the question. It’s also NOT correct (probably; it’s reasonable to put quite minimal effort into concepts that might be useful in some cases, but not ones you currently care about) to reject the concept outright. Whether it’s correct or not, it’s rude to reject it without some exploration of what (if any) value it has. It’s also rude to try to convince someone if they’ve flatly rejected it—sometimes you really don’t have the bandwidth to resolve such differences of opinion.
“how quickly can you read this sample text thoroughly enough to answer 10 questions afterward” is a pretty objective question. The debate can then turn to whether it’s useful for anything, and what you can predict/improve outside of that test based on the results.
I disagree with you, and also with your friend. Reading speed does not exist in a vacuum, and it’s absolutely correct to push for more specific context if you ask the question. It’s also NOT correct (probably; it’s reasonable to put quite minimal effort into concepts that might be useful in some cases, but not ones you currently care about) to reject the concept outright. Whether it’s correct or not, it’s rude to reject it without some exploration of what (if any) value it has. It’s also rude to try to convince someone if they’ve flatly rejected it—sometimes you really don’t have the bandwidth to resolve such differences of opinion.
“how quickly can you read this sample text thoroughly enough to answer 10 questions afterward” is a pretty objective question. The debate can then turn to whether it’s useful for anything, and what you can predict/improve outside of that test based on the results.