He thinks that healthy habits keeps you safe.
As a general rule, try to avoid making too much effort.
• Avoid sitting in a dark room with just the monitor on.
• avoid being too close to the monitor. Distance of one hand length is enough, but not less. (Half of this for your phone).
• Have breaks. After one hour, give your eyes some minutes to refresh.
I personally use dark mode.
Why? I never use dark mode and never have eye problems. Sometimes sits for like 20 hours coding. All I do is keep the room well lit. I'm in my 30s.
I remember having eye straing a few times like a decade ago, but I guess that was from over eating sugar or something. If you have eye strain I'd guess it has some other reason than the screen or how you treat your eyes. Or maybe you need better glasses.
Edit: Dark mode would cause your pupils to dilate, maybe that is the reason for the eye strain people here see? Bright room with bright room keeps pupils small and maybe reduces strain.
Eye dryness is the only real "eye strain" related issue that can have permanent effects. Ironically the advice of "rest your eyes to relax the muscles" might be helpful because it helps your eyes re-wet, as your blink rate lowers when engage in close up activity. The advice itself is based in the nonsense that the muscles can wear out.
> I remember having eye strain a few times like a decade ago, but I guess that was from over eating sugar or something
No, it wasn't, and I'm always surprised when people look for conclusions like this. Most of the replies in this HN post are anecdotal "here's what I do," and very few have an understanding of the actual issue and question.
One hand length is like 6 inches lol