I think it is a real life oxymoron that an trader following automated trading is also a manual trader because you are absolutely right, both are not independent of each other.
No doubt that people can do trading without the scripts and features of TA software, they are not more than just a terminal on to which we can put the indicators on the charts. However I have been doing automated trades to make an income without actively trading. I think it is necessary to use screener scripts because we have to look for opportunities for trade as much as possible. I choose multiple brokers always, like right now it is fxview, avatrade, because even the price of the same security can be different on both of the brokers for a split second. This arbitrage between the brokers can also be beneficial for the traders.
There is no such thing like manual traders can’t be full time traders, people used to trade even before this technology came into place. A day trader, position trader or any type of trader can be a full time trader without automation and all these scripts because if the effort is more, the chance of getting the rewards is also higher.
Yes absolutely right! Automation is not always successful. At some point you are controlling the things and updating the parameters. It is just like autopilot mode in aircrafts at landings and takeoffs you have to take control.
Someone that's into automation of their trading should equally be interested into backtesting any trade strategy they're trying to automate. Your backtest results should easily tell you what's worth pursuing for automation. wrbtrader