Surely the researcher has way more constraints and is thus less creative in their job?

I'm all for finding the joy in things, but the author starts with the comparison and then uses the ability to find creativity with it being a requisite part of the job.

Surely the person with more pertage of trdious work has a more tedious and less creative job.

Imagine if someone made this argument about dollars per hour, and the exec said they work overtime often so the valet has no right to complain about pay since they can look harder for tips.