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Though most of us don't hunt, our eyes are still the great…

“Though most of us don't hunt, our eyes are still the great monopolists of our senses. To taste or touch your enemy or your food, you have to be unnervingly close to it. To smell or hear it, you can risk being further off. But vision can rush through the fields and up the mountains, travel across…” quote by Diane Ackerman
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“Though most of us don't hunt, our eyes are still the great monopolists of our senses. To taste or touch your enemy or your food, you have to be unnervingly close to it. To smell or hear it, you can risk being further off. But vision can rush through the fields and up the mountains, travel across time, country, and parsecs of outer space, and collect bushel baskets of information as it goes. Animals that hear high frequencies better than we do”

Diane Ackerman

About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Vision dominates perception, allowing distant, rapid information gathering unlike other senses.

In simple terms: Sight gathers far‑away data quickly.

Key Takeaway

Leverage visual tools for broad insight.

Themes

perception vision information technology

Mood

reflective inquisitive

Type

philosophical observational

When to use this quote

  • education
  • design
  • remote sensing
  • visual analytics
  • media consumption

Key Concepts

cognitive science sensory hierarchy

Questions to Reflect On

  • How does reliance on sight shape understanding?
  • When might other senses be more reliable?
A Different Perspective

Vision can be misleading without context; other senses provide depth.

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