[wiz21]

My father was a "manager" of people doing that kind of ultra repetitive, not very smart, dirty-hands tasks. I was fortunate enough to meet some of them when I was 20 years old. This opened my eyes :

- those people were not well educated so that kind of work was something they could do and for a decent salary

- that was a job and they had pride in being employed and useful

- that job was not mentally exhausting so they could think about something else or talk while working; many found that quite enjoyable, socially interesting if you will

- they were doing different things, going from one "simple" task to another and so they all shared a knowledge ofthe build process they were involved in. They were proud of that as well.

So well, those "not very interesting" tasks were actually taken care of very seriously and with pride. So in the end the "how it was done" was just as important than "what was done".

That's why if robots take over, I can't help but see that these people will miss something they loved. You can say that's the price to pay but, go and say that in front of them; you'll understand what the "it's-logical-unescapable" kind of argument really means...

[altonzheng]

Definitely, what makes sense economically on a macro scale ignores all the micro, very human, factors involved. I have nothing to say but to be grateful for the position that I, and a lot of fellow HN'ers probably, are in.

[studentrob]

> that was a job and they had pride in being employed and useful

Thank you for saying this. Not many people on HN mention that.