I think the difference with your example of bold and italic text is different because they are occasional, so they are more signal than noise. They stand out as

I think the difference with your example of bold and italic text is different because they are occasional, so they are more signal than noise. They stand out as different because they are. I see quite a few color themes where everything seems to be a different color -- the signal of color almost gets lost in the noise. So I think I disagree with the author of the linked article to the extent he takes it. However, the article has made me wonder if a much simpler color scheme that highlighted strings and syntax errors only, would be a bit more straightforward and more signal than noise.