There is no agreement on what is sensible and what is not, the defaults are no more or less sensible than any other suggestion.

Oh, yes there are.

C-b is terrible for your wrist, especially in conjunction with the following commands.

Choosing C-a isn't as much about preference as it is about not-terrible ergonomics. Now people are right to prefer anything other than C-a or C-b but C-a is objectively a much saner default than C-b.

The problem is with ctrl positioning, there was a time when it was more commonly found on the home row [0]. Rebinding caps lock to control turns the motion from an awkward wrist snap to a slight spreading of your left hand fingers.

[0] http://xahlee.info/kbd/keyboard_ctrl_vs_capslock_position.ht...

Personally I've bound caps lock to ESC, but given the emacs style shortcuts it does make sense. Thanks.

> C-b is terrible for your wrist

I always use the modifier key on the opposite side of the keyboard to avoid that issue. So for ctrl-b , I press the ctrl key on the right side of the keyboard worth my right pinky and press the b key with my left index finger.

Absolute nonsense, are you trying to press C-b with one hand?

Yes. Left ctrl is in a better placement on many keyboards. Also being able to perform shortcuts with one hand is very handy.

If it hurts your wrist pressing it with one hand, perhaps you should use two...

Or choose a shortcut that works with either.