The Lamplighter Fallacy in Automation

Policymakers and AI boosters often claim displaced workers will be grateful in retrospect, citing 'lamplighters' as a happily obsolete job. Historically, lamplighters were cherished civic figures, and the shift to electric lighting was mourned for aesthetic and social reasons. Treating work as meaning‑free output misses real losses that matter to publics. — This reframes automation debates by arguing that progress narratives must account for the social and aesthetic value of jobs, not just productivity gains.