Engineer wrote:
Surely the intensity of the reading light is a lot lower than that of the cabin lights. Hence the reason why you can use them
A white piece of paper right in front of you with a spotlight shining on it is not going to do your night vision any good me thinks and is of a higher (local) intensity than the normal cabin lights.
In fact, half the time the normal cabin lights aren't sufficient to read by, and you need the reading light if you want to read at all. Therefore, the reading light must be brighter.
Cheers