system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5- Why do humans generally tend to prefer “complimentary” color schemes? Is there a particular reason our brains almost systematically reject pairings of colors that don’t seem to “go together”, especially in living environments?
gpt
The complementary colors are opposites - red/green, blue/(yellow/orange) - as you noted. This is fundamental to why we prefer them together and can be illustrated by "aftereffect" or "afterimage"...

Essentially, when seeing a particular color, the receptors in your eyes that detect that color fatigue and strain -- as they do, they detect less and less of that color. If you stare at a red dot for 30 seconds, and then look to a white area, you'll see a green dot aftereffect. This green dot is the result of the red receptors in your eyes being fatigued and not detecting the red light in the white area -- leaving reds opposite to "over detect" (or appear to).

When we pair these two colors with each other, we in effect, make it easier on our eyes to delineate the contrasting areas. (We strain the opposite receptors at the same time). It leads to brighter contrasts and less blurring in your vision.