I think the specific example mentioned might be subjective, but I agree with your point. In my mind, the common emphasis on the DRY/WET thing with abstractions

I think the specific example mentioned might be subjective, but I agree with your point. In my mind, the common emphasis on the DRY/WET thing with abstractions leads many people to miss the point of abstractions. They’re not about eliminating repetition or removing work, they’re about making the work a better fit for the problem. Code elimination is a common byproduct of abstractions, but occasionally the opposite may happen to. I see an abstraction as being comprised of a model and a transformation. The villain isn’t premature abstractions, it’s abstractions where the model is no better (or worse!) for the problem than what’s being abstracted over.