I would normally interpret “I prefer (unusual thing) to (common, necessary, thing)” to mean that his preferences for the latter change over time (usually by increasing when he’s not had it) and that he prefers the former to the latter at one particular moment when he would otherwise prefer the latter..
For instance, someone who says he prefers video games to sleep doesn’t mean that he would rather suffer all the consequences of having no sleep for a month, as long as he plays video games. Rather, he means that at some moment when he would otherwise prefer sleep to other things, he would prefer video games to sleep. As time passes and his need for sleep increases, he may still eventually prefer sleep.
I would normally interpret “I prefer (unusual thing) to (common, necessary, thing)” to mean that his preferences for the latter change over time (usually by increasing when he’s not had it) and that he prefers the former to the latter at one particular moment when he would otherwise prefer the latter..
For instance, someone who says he prefers video games to sleep doesn’t mean that he would rather suffer all the consequences of having no sleep for a month, as long as he plays video games. Rather, he means that at some moment when he would otherwise prefer sleep to other things, he would prefer video games to sleep. As time passes and his need for sleep increases, he may still eventually prefer sleep.