I consider that to be a perfectly legitimate question. The author of the article might be surprised about how many people will flat out derail when asked such

I consider that to be a perfectly legitimate question. The author of the article might be surprised about how many people will flat out derail when asked such a simple question. Given that he was talking to an HR representative, such low-ball questions are to be expected; they are just screening for train wrecks before the real interview. Yeah, it is kind of a bummer to talk to a non-technical HR person, but is it really that bad? Does the author not realize what the job market is like right now? There were probably hundreds of applicants for the position, and there needs to be some kind of high-pass filter to choose which candidates are valuable enough for the real technical people to spend time interviewing. FTA: "I was speechless. I was literally unable to find the words to respond [...]". Here's my suggestion: drop the arrogance, and either answer the question, or respectfully explain that the interview is over because the position is not what you expected.