This is a reductionist counterargument. Sure, the passage you quoted does sound like he's being equally reductionist. But the underlying point does not depend o

This is a reductionist counterargument. Sure, the passage you quoted does sound like he's being equally reductionist. But the underlying point does not depend on T=0. You could state it as saying that instead of minimizing error (maximizing "writing quality"), you're using some of that error for watermarking and minimizing the rest. Describing it in terms of a word-by-word choice is simpler, but writing quality is dependent on the interplay between words. "The weather today was cold and {grey,overcast}." If the next sentence is "I miss yesterday, when it was {bright,sunny}." then the choice between "grey" and "overcast" is no longer neutral. "grey" and "bright" pair together, as do "overcast" and "sunny". Or if you disagree with my aesthetic sensibilities, consider: The weather today was cold and {grey,gray}. The {color,colour} of the sky matched my {humorless,humourless} mood.