I don’t think this argument holds up to reading native content. In native content, the words used are more or less necessary to create a stream of meaning as a piece of one greater puzzle. Seeing 人 in a sentence means that you have to see what modifies it, where it belongs in the sentence, and use it as context to grasp the overall meaning meant to be conveyed. This is an indispensable component to the larger process of understanding long strings of japanese. This is a necessary skill to be proficient in reading japanese and must be trained in its own right through repeated practice of said process. In the context of wanikani, the word itself is not a component to any larger process. It is a standalone entity that you are assessed on and it is that sole standalone entity that is reinforced. Nothing else.