Dim Cabin Lights on Take Off

[alasdair_cook]

Why oh why do they dim the cabin lights on take off in airliners?

Two schools of thought we're having here:

1: As part of a legal requirement so passengers eyes are adjusted to the dark so they can see the emergency exit lights....
2: So the electrical load is reduced on the engines, thus creating a redundancy for a single engine failure.

Please help!

thanks!