alt Hacker News> and I can't imagine what I would have done without them.
You're falling into the trap of saying I could've only been happy if I did X. But humans aren't like that - even garbagemen find happiness in their work. The brain adapts to baseline no matter the field.
The second trap you're falling into is saying look how abundant things are compared to 1892. We have every statistic proven and locked down that abundance does not equal happiness.
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Do you believe that all work is equivalent? That no matter what job I chose, I would be equally happy? That is hard for me to believe.
Do you believe that, on balance, the world is no better today than in 1892? If so, that's where we disagree.
But happiness wasn't mentioned. There was "fun", "I can't imagine what I would have done without them", and "preferable". If happiness is not the goal, your point about being happy with garbage is irrelevant.
> even garbagemen find happiness in their work.
Citation definitely needed.
The ones I know find happiness in their relatively high pay for an 8hr/day, no GED-required job, with the job security that the first few days are blindingly difficult for anyone to adapt to, even highly fit college athletes (source: 40+ garbageman whose son couldn't hack two days of it).
Ages ago, I used to draw using pencils and having to ink drawings and then once 3 views were done, do all the work to make a 3D rendering --- while I appreciate Marshall MacLuhan's warnings concerning each technological advancement resulting in a matching amputation, the freedom and expressiveness which modern CAD affords is nothing short of miraculous --- it was pretty rare for there to be a draftsman whose artistic sensibilities allowed them to escape from the overnight drafting shift to making their own designs.