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The default scroll direction on macOS absolutely makes sense from a UX perspective. On a phone, you scroll up by physically touching the same display your content is on, so you have to move your finger down on the screen, which makes sense on phones but not on computers where the content is separate from the touchpad.

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We've had "down to scroll down" on desktops back when smartphones were still Sci-fi.

The old scroll direction was tied to pushing the scroll bar button up to move the screen down. “Natural” scrolling ties the movement to the window content and makes much more sense once you get over the old habit. I took me about half a day to adjust.

Which is exactly why it shouldn't be modeled as manipulating the content, but rather the viewport/scroll thumb.

But why does that argue for “opposite” scrolling? Why add an extra layer of abstraction for no benefit other than habit?

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