Although I've heard many people say that sans-serif fonts are only for low DPI environments I can't stand serif fonts anywhere no matter the size or display, not even on paper or my Kindle.
I don't know what is the cause, I don't have any vision problems apart from myopia. When I need to read more than a few sentences in serif fonts (like in OS X's Dictionary app) I usually give up and copy-paste the text to somewhere I can view it in a sans-serif font. I've also configured Firefox to show everything in Ubuntu Regular[1].
It started as a preference but maybe by doing that I'm getting increasingly lazier and losing the ability to comprehend different symbols.
Care to tell us how old your are? It might just be what you're culturally accustomed to. Just like blackletter or half-uncials look weird to almost anyone nowadays.
For me it's basically the other way around, I find almost any sans-serif (and most slab serifs) to be esthetically unpleasing. It's like reading a book set in highway/emergency signage. Don't even get me started about Helvetica... (And I'm not even that old - 34. Maybe I never should've read that Tschichold book)
Oh, sorry didn't mean to leave that out. I'm 22 years old, I recently started using glasses for myopia (it didn't affect my preference regarding text) and I don't have astigmatism.
I agree with you on the aesthetics of serifs, I prefer it when I'm admiring how beautiful a piece of paper looks but when I'm reading I find them illegible. Same goes with cursive, although I can read it just fine I hate every minute of it. I also don't have a nice handwriting (don't know if these tell you something).
It is funny how aesthetic choices differ. I unintentionally associate serif fonts with infographics, ads etc. that I find overdesigned and not my preferred ways to get information efficiently.
I don't know what is the cause, I don't have any vision problems apart from myopia. When I need to read more than a few sentences in serif fonts (like in OS X's Dictionary app) I usually give up and copy-paste the text to somewhere I can view it in a sans-serif font. I've also configured Firefox to show everything in Ubuntu Regular[1].
It started as a preference but maybe by doing that I'm getting increasingly lazier and losing the ability to comprehend different symbols.
[1] http://font.ubuntu.com/