> Physiologists, in fact, have calculated that rowing a two-thousand meter race — the Olympic standard — takes the same physiological toll as playing two basketball games back-to-back. And it exacts that toll in about six minutes.
https://archive.nytimes.com/6thfloor.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/...
The important part is that the setting doesn't really matter in terms of how difficult the workout will be. You are always in charge of this. The performance monitor software in these machines only measure the power into the flywheel.
If you find that less drag feels better and more engaging, then just use that setting.