I couldn't have said it better++
I didn't manage to quote this in time (yay for not logging on for 2 weeks, wonder why), AST kind of puts that theory clean to bed tbh, it's burst APM is right up there. SCH also used to be seriously high APM back in the day if you were willing to micro manage the fairy. I personally used pedals at one stage to drive the embrace spam.I've always felt like the healers are actually there to be low apm entry into savage prog. And if you don't like that gameplay then...play another job?
A big part of why many people are so bitter about it at this stage is because of how far the entire role has regressed. The powerhouse SCHs or ASTs of old just have little to nothing left to work with anymore. Our depth consists of spreadsheeting healing plans with a co healer and following that. Running casual content? GLHF, there's just nothing to strive for or chase.