11 Comments
User's avatar
chris cavanagh's avatar

It occurs to me to use the musical "mixer" board as an extension of your multiple dimmer/brightener switches. A mixer can have over a hundred knobs for varying effects as well as all the inputs and outputs. A crazy degree of complexity. And "mixing" seems very much like how we hairless apes seem to function

Expand full comment
Simone's avatar

Dear A. J. Jacobs,

I just would like you to know that I study English by reading and discussing your articles, because they are deep and interesting. Thank you.

Simone, from Brazil

Expand full comment
Kathleen Joy  Anderson's avatar

Not that I would trust myself to follow those instructions but I’m guessing that anyone with some handyman/woman skills could do it.

Expand full comment
Paul Ollinger's avatar

they should call it the "Luminous Nuancer"

Expand full comment
A.J. Jacobs's avatar

I would buy a bunch of those!

Expand full comment
Kathleen Joy  Anderson's avatar

You know what? It’s not that hard to replace an off/on switch with a dimmer switch. There are several YouTube videos that show the steps to follow. Just sayin’.

Expand full comment
A.J. Jacobs's avatar

That is excellent news!

Expand full comment
jean mensing's avatar

Dimmer sounds sad when it's actually the major fulcrum of our lives but I'll take it for now. Of course, I'm seethingly envious of all your actual Dimmers at home. Somehow it's difficult for our species to think beyond binary....(sometimes I'm Naughtily nice and sometime Nicely naughty).... however the Trinity concept has had a run for its' money so maybe we can eventually advance to multi paradoxical...contradictory...cross fertilization...thinking. (Can't quite get the right sentence together....open for revision. Have a nice day

Expand full comment
A.J. Jacobs's avatar

Yes, I agree. Dimmer is such a downer way to put it! Brightener is better!

Expand full comment
Kevin Stanford's avatar

See also John Green’s excellent, if merely one-dimensional, _The Anthropocene Reviewed_. :)

Expand full comment
A.J. Jacobs's avatar

Thanks! I love John Green

Expand full comment