@otto:
Also, I think this is an awful idea. Why does everybody making an editor think that distraction is an actual problem?

They think distraction is a problem because long-form article authors often report it as a problem. Just because you don't experience it, doesn't mean it isn't a serious pain point for a large subset of WordPress users. This seems to be a common impasse in our discussions. Not everyone uses WordPress like you, and that isn't because they are using it wrong.

That said, I have never seen a long form editing tool that fades out actual content. That is also not a feature I've ever heard an author ask for, and it seems completely inconsistent with the idea of reducing distractions. Forced tunnel vision is not the same as removing clutter.

But that does seem consistent with the other design choices made by Gutenberg, that seem to be based on what looks cool and "modern" more than what the community actually needs.