It depends what you're doing, among other things. If all you really want is to walk through the room without crashing into furniture, then an overhead light can work fine. If you are watching TV, maybe an overhead light will make reflections that make the picture harder to see. If you are reading or doing something detailed, maybe an overhead light isn't bright enough. The older you get, the more light you need to see well. I'd have trouble reading under any overhead light that wasn't 300 watts. I bet you're under 40.

It depends really, some are brighter some aren't but lamps tend to focus on a specific area, especially desk lamps so it's depends what you're doing but overhead lighting is more useful when you need the entire room to be brighter

If you're happy with overhead lighting, you're not going to have a sudden revelation from lamps.

Focused lighting in your particular location.

localized light more lunims in a specific area

i've been doing a bit of research, and found that many sources actually say lamps give better lighting.

but i've never had a problem with overhead lighting. in fact, i like how they have a switch near the entrance of a room, and i never have to deal with the hassle of turning on a lamp. like... reaching under a tight lamp shade to turn that little nob, or pull on a string...

but am i being caveman here?? are lamps really better, and give more sophisticated lighting than overhead lights?