Modern pixel artists far from "misunderstand" the legacy of pixel art. They're specifically designing for a sensibility and context that didn't exist when pixel art was originally made. Actually talk to pixel artists and they'll explain this to you themselves perfectly fine
I have no idea about modern pixel art artist’s thought process, but it’s generally under-appreciated that CRT-era pixel art looks significantly different on todays displays than it looked on the originally targeted hardware.
That being said, there were also a couple of years in the 2000’s where pixel-based icons were specifically designed for LCD.
We can never know what each and every pixel art designer means or intends, simply because there is no single answer.
Because of this obvious fact, I offered a common explanation among those designers I know that produced pixel art: that they simply do not consider the particulars of how pixel art was rendered on cathode ray tubes. Hence /perhaps/, a possibility is presented.
I find your counter-argument superficial and perhaps intentionally missing the point.
