It is interesting how different people have different experiences. I grew up in the days of green monochrome terminals and monitors, and hated them. I bought an amber monitor as soon as they became available, and that helped a bit with the eyestrain.

Windows 3, Word for Windows and TSE were a godsend to me. Finally, I could read and write code and documents the way I thought they were intended to be viewed- dark text on a light background, mimicking real-world books and papers.

Today, I do use dark mode; my devices are set up to go dark late at night, in case I wake up and want to check something without burning my eyes. But that comprises a miniscule amount of the time I spend in front of a screen.

>Finally, I could read and write code and documents the way I thought they were intended to be viewed- dark text on a light background, mimicking real-world books and papers.

Real-world paper doesn't have a backlight behind it, projecting bright white light directly into your eyes. If you want to see documents the way they were "intended" to be viewed, you need to use an e-ink screen.

Why should your eyes care whether the light was generated behind the screen or bounced off it? Photons are photons.

Because directly-transmitted light from an LCD screen's backlight doesn't scatter the way diffuse, reflected light from a piece of paper does. It's like comparing a laser to a flashlight.

Sorry, but that doesn't make sense at all. An LCD screen emits photons of all wavelengths and in all directions, as does a piece of paper. That's totally different to flashlight vs. laser, where there is a physical distinction between the types of photons being emitted.

This was certainly true in CRT times, but since the advent of LCD I prefer light mode, and it is easier on my eyes (as long as the brightness matches the ambient light). Only with OLED do I prefer dark mode, at night, at least on mobile devices (haven’t used an OLED desktop yet).