LED light bulbs are the future. They're better for the environment and the pocket book. But for some people, certain LEDs lights — particularly holiday lights—are also a problem. They flicker in a way that causes headaches, nausea and other discomfort. Today, we visit the "Flicker Queen" to learn why LEDs flicker — and what you can do about it.Wondering about other quirks of lighting and engineering? Email us at shortwave@npr.org – we might cover it on a future episode!
As a Jew (and an atheist) who never grew up celebrating Christmas but having it forced down my throat for two months of the year anyway, they’ve always given me a headache.
I don’t mind that people celebrate Christmas in general, it’s just that it’s so overboard.
EDIT: I knew a bunch of people would downvote me for finding the two months of the year they shove their religion’s holiday down other people’s throats going overboard.
I mean, Christmas is borderline secular at this point. I’m an atheist but I’m not that triggered by it.
Unless I’m gravely mistaken, I think Christmas and the winter holiday it’s centered on is actually pagan and has been celebrated for a staggering length of time. The whole tree thing and yule log and all that. I think religions just kinda co-opted it since it was already being celebrated and nobody was quite sure when Jesus was born exactly. I’ve noticed that a lot of Irish music and ancient tunes were later transferred into church music with some tweaked lyrics too. But the underlying music can be quite a bit older.
Good point! Festivus has been with civilization a long time :D
In grade two, one of my kids was laughing about a kid in his class who said Christmas was about Jesus, not Santa.
We had a conversation about tolerance and not making a big deal about other’s beliefs. And the history of Christmas.
But I think Christmas will be fully secular (in Canada) within a generation.
Assuming we survive the coming Water Wars. (mostly /s)
Sorry not sure I get the relevance.
KHAAANNNN!!!
funny, i kinda dont give 2 shits about the holiday, but i love the reason to go overboard. sudden tourist monstrosity; take that hoa!
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/architecture-design-blog/2014/dec/19/santas-real-workshop-the-town-in-china-that-makes-the-worlds-christmas-decorations
I’m sure this hasn’t gotten much, much, worse.
That’s a fair point. Anything to fuck over an HOA.
I’m in a similar boat, but I appreciate anyone trying to make pretty public displays. I might not agree on the definition of pretty, but they’re trying, and that’s pretty great.
We need more of you in our society
IMHO restraint is key with light displays. Make it lightweight and pretty, think minimalist and I am on board. Big plastic snowmen and Santas can fuck right off.
Generally speaking, yes. But if someone goes through the effort to put that crap up, good on them.
I live in an area where people put up pretty terrible looking homemade displays. If they went through the trouble to make it, I’m going to find something to appreciate.
I have no real artistic skill but I’m good at software.
What if I just string up an ungodly amount of LEDs and fire up some array effects?
DO IT
It’s not that you’re jew, atheist, scientologist or furry. It’s that your comment has nothing do to with the topic being discussed.
I made a new comment for your edit cause I didn’t mean to ratio, just trying for discussion. It’s not a big deal to dislike it; I guess I just think of it as winter holiday season and not Christmas season. And I’m guessing it’s not a bunch of triggered Christians downvoting it’s just people responding to what comes across as a little grumpy (which again for the record is an opinion you’re entitled to).
I think overtly religious displays and sanctimony are pretty annoying. I just don’t see the rest of the season as affected by that. Maybe they’re Chanukah lights. But to steel man you a little: if anything I’m more triggered by the consumerism and capitalist co-opting of time to reflect and be with family than any religion being overbearing, which goes along with what you’re saying regarding the overboardness people do with the decorations and extraness of their lawn displays and the presents and holiday sales etc.
I never really noticed the lights as a Christmas-specific problem, between Diwali, New Year, and Lunar New year, there’s lights up from October to February in my country.
So as a migraine sufferer who does have issues with flickering LEDs at night (particularly the blue or blue-white diodes) I can’t blame Christmas alone for my pain.
But the carols! The fucking carols! I’m far more sound sensitive than I am noise sensitive with my migraines, and the vast majority of the “classic” Christmas carols just hit all the wrong tones for me. High pitched bells, weird twanging piano keys, blasting from speakers when I’m just popping into the shops to buy dunny roll, it’s awful. One of my jobs is a choir facilitator for an intellectual disability program, and this time of year is a walking nightmare because it’s carols, all carols, nothing but carols (and any attempt at musical redirection is a recipe for unhappy clients), I think I’m single handedly keeping my local chemist in business with my migraine med scripts.
I wear ear plugs where I can, but the pressure of something in my ears also triggers headaches, and obviously can’t wear plugs at work where my job is to listen and sing along.
It’s also just annoying to have everything December be Christmas - and I say that as a secular Christmas celebrator. There’s so much more to celebrate this time of year, but you’d never get a chance to know it.
I think a lot of people who celebrate Christmas have noticed it becoming even more overcommercialised than ever before, but it’s not really, it’s just a new type of commercialisation with so many industries being “fast”. Those on the outside of Christmas (Jews, Muslims, Pagans, basically every other religion and spirituality outside Christianity) the overcommercialisation has been obvious since the Victorian era.