People shouldn't have to cram little tricks and algorithms into their brain just to pass a Leetcode challenge; that's the point. No real-world programming career is driven by such pointless exercises.
I would think that real world programming careers are affected by someone's ability to remember information and put in effort, and that's demonstrated by the time spent to study for the little tricks and algorithms that go into passing an interview. I think it makes things a lot less subjective - you put in the time, you win.
I don't think that expecting prospective developers to spend lots of unpaid time on a skill that's ultimately not going to be useful to the vast majority of them should be normalized.
Do you expect medical doctors to do an unpaid "trial" surgery as part of their interview? Do you expect lawyers to litigate a case for free before they'll be considered for a job?
As far as I know software engineering is the only field where in addition to experience & education you have to waste time gaming the interview process. Every other field seems to get away just fine hiring based on experience and/or education.
Yes...but the bar to entry here is also a major factor. Doctors and lawyers in part have already been vetted by lots of crap before even qualifying for an interview.
How much of the content on the MCAT is "useful" for a doctor's daily work? I would argue that the majority of it is moot. In the same vein, the LSAT has a lot of "useless" logic puzzles that aren't applicable to their daily work as a lawyer. Fact of the matter is, we're lucky in tech to have this system that ANYONE can study for "useless" shit, doesn't matter your background, what college you went to, etc. If you get the interview and nail it, you're in.