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Comment by maxsilver | Hacker News Reader

> This is one of the examples of absence of empathy

Isn't this an example of an abundance of empathy? If the user has requested dark-mode, websites responding with their best version of a dark-mode experience is an example of user empathy in action.

I operate in dark-mode 24/7 myself, and I've been pleasantly surprised at websites slowly supporting a dark-mode experience and automatically showing that by default.

There should probably be a one-click "override dark/light mode on this site" button somewhere, so that you don't have to dig into your OS to change it back. But the defaults here seem like the most reasonable, most user-respecting thing that could possibly exist.

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No. When someone forces on everybody else own understanding of the world regardless of what other people want that's an absence. Not forcing own defaults and giving a choice—that would be more preferrable.

>>When someone forces on everybody else own understanding of the world regardless of what other people want that's an absence.

That is literally what you are proposing though. That website creators should force their creation on everyone else and even though the user has clearly signalled that they want to be in dark mode, they should disregard this preference.

Picking dark mode is a choice, and websites should respect that choice and adapt to it. Not doing so is "forcing on everyone else your understanding of the world".

Standard default usually means light. Changing this to dark means forcing new default. Since there is a browser limitation in telling exactly what a user wants—dark UI and light content or dark UI and dark content—forcing a new default considering that it's exactly what a user wants just based oninformation about UI despite the fact that there are not enough signals is a bit wrong. The safer bet would be to provide a choice but keep defaults to general (light) and not make choice for a user just judging by UI theme.

>>Changing this to dark means forcing new default.

No one is changing the default. Websites are merely respecting YOUR choice.

>>The safer bet would be to provide a choice but keep defaults to general (light)

This is literally how this works already - default is light theme, changing it to dark theme is a choice - I still don't understand what your issue here is.

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