I’ve often wondered about the omigod reaction to plain text on a plain background too. When I watch carefully I see it in myself too when I’m attempting to branch out in an area where I don’t know anything, and I’m a long time command line junkie. I think underneath the eye-glaze is a physiological pre-conscious reaction and only with training and experience do we learn that it is temporary. Like dipping ones toes in the lake. It’s cold, but if you just jump right in you’re swimming in no time.

With text it’s harder to run on autopilot. One must slow down, pause at times, and let the meaning of the words come to awareness before taking action. With graphics we can _feel_ like we’re going fast, punch this, slap that, drag the other thing, even if over the long haul we’re not covering as much ground.