Yes, but the point is not to simply state 'this common citation in software engineering is bullshit, which indicates they're all idiots and full of bullshit', but to get the reader to actually think about and agree to the logical argument before revealing the specifics of it being software engineering - before readers can engage in self-justification and criticism and confirmation bias 'oh we're special it's not as simple as you think'.

It's like if you took a speech by a politician, removed the obvious identifiers, and showed it to his enemies who agree with it, and then reveal who it was by - you've demonstrated something interesting about human biases. And his enemies may even learn something.