Ah, so it's, like, a brutalist, function over form preference?

From your perspective - yes, exactly that and I think that's probably the best way you can understand it.

From my perspective, the old.reddit.com UI (with RES) is possibly the most beautifully designed web page I've ever encountered. I certainly couldn't have used it almost daily for the past 12 years if that wasn't the case.

I can focus on content much better when the UI is breathing. And I prefer clients that have images already expanded, to save me the clicks.

I can understand and respect that while thinking you're insane. If I had to guess, your formative experience with technology was via touch screens and I think that would go a long way to explaining your preferences.

For me, post uniformity is important. It feels like I'm in control of the experience and I'm browsing rather than having things shoved in my face. I have Imagus installed so I only need to hover over a link to see the picture and so I can just look at the pictures I'm interested in - one at a time.

Full disclosure - my earliest experiences in the Internet were bulletin boards and that probably had a formative part in my preferences. I'm also probably undiagnosed something.