I am reminded of Dijkstra's remark on Lisp, that it "has assisted a number of our most gifted fellow humans in thinking previously impossible thoughts."
(I imagine that this is not limited to Lisp, though some languages may yield more or less results.)
If we consider programming entirely as a means to and end, with the end being all that matters, we may lose out on insights obtained while doing the work. Whether if those insights are of practical value, or economic value, or of no value at all, is another question, but I feel there is more likely to be something gained by actually doing the programming, compared to actually lighting the street lamps.
(Of course, what you are programming matters too. Many were quick to turn to AI for "boilerplate"; I doubt many insights are found in such code.)
(I imagine that this is not limited to Lisp, though some languages may yield more or less results.)
If we consider programming entirely as a means to and end, with the end being all that matters, we may lose out on insights obtained while doing the work. Whether if those insights are of practical value, or economic value, or of no value at all, is another question, but I feel there is more likely to be something gained by actually doing the programming, compared to actually lighting the street lamps.
(Of course, what you are programming matters too. Many were quick to turn to AI for "boilerplate"; I doubt many insights are found in such code.)