If not automating jobs that could be automated was better for the world, then we would simply pay everyone unemployed to cut grass using scissors.
Productivity gains help the world by allowing more services and products to be provided at cheaper rates. This software engineer self-loathing I keep reading about is completely misguided, it's like you are expected to hate yourself for doing valuable labor.
> Productivity gains help the world by allowing more services and products to be provided at cheaper rates.
That can be true and still not ease the pain inflicted by unemployment. The poster is confronting the consequences of their work and you are suggesting The Greater Good should simply trump their basic human empathy... An alternative might be to accept both benefits and costs of said work and make an effort to mitigate the costs via charity, volunteering, support for social programs, etc.
Productivity gains help the world by allowing more services and products to be provided at cheaper rates. This software engineer self-loathing I keep reading about is completely misguided, it's like you are expected to hate yourself for doing valuable labor.