I finally printed the stupid thing out and cut out the squares and placed them side by side. They magically changed to the same shade. How'd they do that?

Yes, A and B are the same shade. For one thing, if you look in between the two squares and unfocus your eyes you can tell they're the same shade. At least I can. My spouse was less certain and still insisted that there was no way they were the same shade so, being the nerd that my spouse is, they went to the ColorSchemer tool to figure out the exact number of each square's color. Both are #787878 or something.
Now my spouse is attempting to steal the laptop from me to try and figure out if the person who posted this illusion hacked the ColorSchemer site to trick even the nerds into thinking it's the same shade.

This is ridiculous, so I will not give up the laptop, because they're the same damn shade.

"Well, looky here, boss, dey's sumf'n wrong, dey is. Is I me, or who is I? Is I heah, or whah is I? Now dat's what I wants to know."

(Name that character/passage)

That was Jim from Huckleberry Finn, when Huck pretended that he was on the raft the whole time and that the episode of being lost in the fog never happened.

Hmmm...

This suggests summer reading.

Huck Finn for perhaps the 17th time? (This is my all-time favorite piece of literature.)

the 17th time. It is my all time favorite also. I still laugh out loud when I read the passage where Huck and Jim are discussing the wisdom of Solomon.

You absolutely must get your hands on a particular audio recording of Huckleberry Finn.

It is produced by Brilliance Audio. The narrator is Dick Hill.

He's a genius. He does not simply read the novel: he interprets it, and he has it nailed. He does everyone from Huck to Jim to Colonel Sherburn, and it is perfect.

I've listened to Huck Finn over and over and over again on my commutes.

Hill also does Tom Sawyer (and, I suppose, lots of other stuff).

I even wrote him a piece of gushy, oozy fan mail about his efforts, and he replied very graciously.

Seriously, if you love these novels, these recording are a joy.

My best guess would have to be Jim.

Yes. It's the scene on the Mississippi where Huck pulls out this optical illusion book where squares on a grid appear to be different shades, but they turn out actually to be the same. I think this is just before the Duke and Dauphin come aboard.

are exactly the same color. I too had my doubts, until I did what was suggested and printed the image and cut out the squares (when no one was watching) and lo! and behold!, they are the same color. Now, I am wondering about other perceptions that I have, like the difference between Democrats and Republicans, or my friends and my enemies?

Regarding your other note, a character that I admire had a medical situation, while not exactly the same, may be somewhat consoling regarding the care that he received:LINK

hospitals would have thought to employ the muppets. I believe I wouldn't be so against doctors and hospitals if their nurses were made of fabric, controlled by Jim Henson's minions and prone to busting into songs that are not entirely appropriate for the situation.

At my next hospital visit I think I'm going to request "Put down the duckie". Or, rather, "Put down the scalpel."

The shades are altered by the printing.

This whole thing is a conspiracy, aimed at undermining absolutist views of morality and of truth in general. First it is shades of gray when talking about, well, shades of gray. Then its "shades of gray" with everything else.

Does this have auditory/acoustic implications? Are the high and low E strings on my guitar really tuned to the same pitch or not? How can I really tell?

Because you're only hearing those E strings in comparison with the other strings and someone with too much time on their hands devised a way to tune them in such a manner that you would hear one as higher, one as lower, but they're really the same.

If you don't believe me, do the following:

Take hold of the tuner of your "lower" E string. Turn it clockwise for a quarter of a turn, then counter clockwise twice for the exact amount of time that it takes to perform a classic "wolf whistle". Then one more clockwise turn the length of the call of a whippoorwill.
Repeat on every other string.
For the remaining strings, do the following:
Cut them off.

Now play your "low E" and your "high E" at the same time.
Which you can't, because one is on the floor.

God, you're gullible.

regular and fat free potato chips? I'm really concerned about that one. I mean, I don't even eat potato chips but should I decide to I'd really like to know if there's really a difference.

Most I've seen.