--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The human eye has to be one of the…" description: "\"“The human eye has to be one of the cruelest tricks nature ever pulled. We can see a tiny, cone-shaped area of light right in front of our faces, restr..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c9/david-wong-1098_carbon-dioxide_the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruel_2827448.jpg" --- # The human eye has to be one of the cruelest tricks nature… ![“The human eye has to be one of the cruelest tricks nature ever pulled. We can see a tiny, cone-shaped area of light right in front of our faces, restricted to a very narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum. We can’t see around walls, we can’t see heat or cold, we can’t see electricity or radio…” quote by David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c9/david-wong-1098_carbon-dioxide_the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruel_2827448.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c9/david-wong-1098_carbon-dioxide_the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruel_2827448.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c9/david-wong-1098_carbon-dioxide_the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruel_2827448.jpg) > ““The human eye has to be one of the cruelest tricks nature ever pulled. We can see a tiny, cone-shaped area of light right in front of our faces, restricted to a very narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum. We can’t see around walls, we can’t see heat or cold, we can’t see electricity or radio signals, we can’t see at a distance. It is a sense so limited that we might as well not have it, yet we have evolved to depend so heavily on it as a species that all other perception has atrophied. We have wound up with the utterly mad and often fatal delusion that if we can’t see something, it doesn’t exist. Virtually all of civilization’s failures can be traced back to that one ominous sentence: ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ We can’t even convince the public that global warming is dangerous. Why? Because carbon dioxide happens to be invisible.”” [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Our visual perception is narrow, leading us to mistake invisibility for nonexistence, which fuels denial of unseen threats like climate change. **In simple terms:** We see only a tiny slice of reality, causing us to ignore what we cannot see. Key Takeaway Recognize limits of sight and seek evidence beyond visual proof. Themes perception science climate denial human bias Mood skeptical concerned reflective Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - policy making - education - media communication - scientific advocacy Key Concepts cognitive bias sensory limitation environmental risk Questions to Reflect On - How can we trust evidence we cannot see? - What alternative methods can reveal hidden dangers? A Different Perspective Reliance on visual evidence can be insufficient for complex, invisible phenomena. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carbon dioxide](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-dioxide/) [Civilization](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/civilization/) [Global warming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/global-warming/) [Nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nature/) ## Related quotes > [The dangers of carbon dioxide? Tell that to a plant, how dangerous carbon dioxide is,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-santorum/the-dangers-of-carbon-dioxide-tell-that-to-a-plant-how-dangerous/) [Rick Santorum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-santorum/) > [“White delusion doesn't affect only white people, it also affects colored people, then they start making noises like white people - and there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/white-delusion-doesn-t-affect-only-white-people-it-also-affects/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [The sooner the US puts a cap on our dangerous carbon pollution, the sooner we can create a new generation of clean energy jobs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-browner/the-sooner-the-us-puts-a-cap-on-our-dangerous-carbon-pollution-the/) [Carol Browner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-browner/) > [... those who are absolutely certain that the rise in temperatures is due solely to carbon dioxide have no scientific justification. It's pure guesswork.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henrik-svensmark/those-who-are-absolutely-certain-that-the-rise-in-temperatures-is-due/) Henrik Svensmark > [I don't like being called a denier because deniers don't believe in facts. There are no facts linking the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bellamy/i-don-t-like-being-called-a-denier-because-deniers-don-t-believe-in/) [David Bellamy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bellamy/) > [The models that have been constructed agree that when, as has been predicted, the level of carbon dioxide or its equivalent in other greenhouse…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-mckibben/the-models-that-have-been-constructed-agree-that-when-as-has-been/) [Bill McKibben](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-mckibben/) > [There is no strong evidence to prove significant human influence on climate on a global basis. The global cooling trend from 1940 to 1970…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-stilbs/there-is-no-strong-evidence-to-prove-significant-human-influence-on/) Peter Stilbs > [On the environmental front there's concern about global warming and high levels of carbon dioxide, and trees take in CO2 and store carbon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clive-anderson/on-the-environmental-front-there-s-concern-about-global-warming-and/) [Clive Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clive-anderson/) > [There is no proof that carbon dioxide is causing or precedes global warming…All indications are that the minor warming cycle finished in 2001 and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-williams/there-is-no-proof-that-carbon-dioxide-is-causing-or-precedes-global/) [John Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-williams/) > [Society's emissions of carbon dioxide may or may not turn out to have something significant to do with global warming-the jury is still out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-teller/society-s-emissions-of-carbon-dioxide-may-or-may-not-turn-out-to-have/) [Edward Teller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-teller/) > [Global warming results not from the emission of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but from an unusually high level of solar radiation and a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khabibullo-abdusamatov/global-warming-results-not-from-the-emission-of-greenhouse-gases-into/) Khabibullo Abdusamatov > [“The human eye is a wonderful device,” I quoted from Poems and Other Prevarications absently. “With a little effort, it can fail to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-k-morgan/the-human-eye-is-a-wonderful-device-i-quoted-from-poems-and-other/) [Richard K. Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-k-morgan/) > [One problem with people is that as soon as they fill a space it's them you see and not the space. Large, desolate landscapes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erlend-loe/one-problem-with-people-is-that-as-soon-as-they-fill-a-space-it-s/) [Erlend Loe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erlend-loe/) > [It takes too much imagination to see the sorrows of people we take for happy. Their real battles take place, like those of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-sean-greer/it-takes-too-much-imagination-to-see-the-sorrows-of-people-we-take/) [Andrew Sean Greer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-sean-greer/) > [“The human eye is restricted to see the useen, because there’s a price to be paid to the rulers of this image and if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-human-eye-is-restricted-to-see-the-useen-because-there-s-a-price/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) ## More by David Wong > [“A realization washed over her in that cold, dark space: this was how virtually all living things born on earth have died—with teeth tearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/a-realization-washed-over-her-in-that-cold-dark-space-this-was-how/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“Let’s say you have an ax. Just a cheap one, from Home Depot. On one bitter winter day, you use said ax to behead…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/let-s-say-you-have-an-ax-just-a-cheap-one-from-home-depot-on-one/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“John, let me make one thing clear,” Jim said, cutting me off in his most stern, evangelical voice. “Every man is blessed with his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/john-let-me-make-one-thing-clear-jim-said-cutting-me-off-in-his-most/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“John ducked casually across some DO NOT DUCK CASUALLY ACROSS THIS TAPE tape”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/john-ducked-casually-across-some-do-not-duck-casually-across-this/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“He made the engine growl and told the headlights to fuck the night.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/he-made-the-engine-growl-and-told-the-headlights-to-fuck-the-night/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“Marconi said, "I see you have your instruments. Can any of you sing? The old spirituals work best." John said, "I can sing." I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/marconi-said-i-see-you-have-your-instruments-can-any-of-you-sing-the/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“It’s the microscopic parasite that causes malaria. Nearly half of all human deaths in recorded history have been caused by this invisible assassin. One…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/it-s-the-microscopic-parasite-that-causes-malaria-nearly-half-of-all/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [At this point two elderly security guards in parkas, the guys who normally work the front desk at the plant, asked John to step…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/at-this-point-two-elderly-security-guards-in-parkas-the-guys-who/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“I stared at the price tags and thought, Why don’t you fucking kill yourself? I have that thought a lot, actually. Hey, did you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/i-stared-at-the-price-tags-and-thought-why-don-t-you-fucking-kill/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“Well, you’d better hope I am because the world was built by sociopaths, men willing to send a million innocent boys into battle to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/well-you-d-better-hope-i-am-because-the-world-was-built-by-sociopaths/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [There is no word in the English language for the feeling someone gets when they suddenly realize they're standing next to an unholy monster…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/there-is-no-word-in-the-english-language-for-the-feeling-someone-gets/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“Around us, the disembodied human limbs were piling up, forming a circle around the fountain, fusing themselves to each other like Satan’s LEGO set.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/around-us-the-disembodied-human-limbs-were-piling-up-forming-a-circle/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“I tried to say something cool, wound up stammering something like, “WANNA YOU WANNA WEENIE ME?” The end kind of trailed off in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/i-tried-to-say-something-cool-wound-up-stammering-something-like/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [John flung himself into a pseudo-karate stance, one hand poised behind him and one in front, posed like a cartoon cactus. I thought for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/john-flung-himself-into-a-pseudo-karate-stance-one-hand-poised-behind/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) > [“Imagine fifty thousand men trapped on a desert island, deprived of food and water and sex but somehow kept alive for fifty thousand years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/imagine-fifty-thousand-men-trapped-on-a-desert-island-deprived-of/) [David Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) [Explore all 294 David Wong quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/) ## More Carbon dioxide quotes > [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/) [Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/) > [Breathing is give(carbon dioxide) and take(oxygen), such is life, find balance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-williams/breathing-is-give-carbon-dioxide-and-take-oxygen-such-is-life-find/) Marcel Williams > [We have to slow down the emissions of carbon dioxide and methane from coal burning, oil and eventually natural gas... And the best ways…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramez-naam/we-have-to-slow-down-the-emissions-of-carbon-dioxide-and-methane-from/) [Ramez Naam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramez-naam/) > [Whether carbon dioxide is quite the environmental villain that some people make it out to be is not yet proven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-abbott/whether-carbon-dioxide-is-quite-the-environmental-villain-that-some/) [Tony Abbott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-abbott/) > [As we pump greenhouse gases into our atmosphere, the ocean absorbs carbon dioxide, making the seawater acidic and hostile for shellfish and corals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barry-gardiner/as-we-pump-greenhouse-gases-into-our-atmosphere-the-ocean-absorbs/) [Barry Gardiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barry-gardiner/) > [ \[The doctrine of air\] I was led into in consequence of inhabiting a house adjoining to a public brewery, where I at first amused… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-priestley/the-doctrine-of-air-i-was-led-into-in-consequence-of-inhabiting-a/) [Joseph Priestley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-priestley/) > [“The discovery of an interaction among the four hemes made it obvious that they must be touching, but in science what is obvious is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-discovery-of-an-interaction-among-the-four-hemes-made-it-obvious/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The instrument Keeling built, the gas chromatograph, works by passing infrared (IR) light through a sample of air and measuring the amount of IR…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-cullen/the-instrument-keeling-built-the-gas-chromatograph-works-by-passing/) [Heidi Cullen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-cullen/) > [If food was no longer obliged to make intercontinental journeys, but stayed part of a system in which it can be consumed over short…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-petrini/if-food-was-no-longer-obliged-to-make-intercontinental-journeys-but/) [Carlo Petrini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-petrini/) > [I know that nuclear is better than fossil fuels when it comes to carbon dioxide, but nuclear energy is by no means clean. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheryl-crow/i-know-that-nuclear-is-better-than-fossil-fuels-when-it-comes-to/) [Sheryl Crow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheryl-crow/) > [Centuries-old habitats such as coral gardens are destroyed in an instant by bottom trawls, pulverized by weighted nets into barren plains. And global carbon…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-danson/centuries-old-habitats-such-as-coral-gardens-are-destroyed-in-an/) [Ted Danson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-danson/) > [Now, we put out a lot of carbon dioxide every year, over 26 billion tons. For each American, it's about 20 tons. For people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/now-we-put-out-a-lot-of-carbon-dioxide-every-year-over-26-billion/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [Plate tectonics is not all havoc and destruction. The slow movement of continents and ocean floors recycles carbon dioxide dissolved in the oceans back…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-shostak/plate-tectonics-is-not-all-havoc-and-destruction-the-slow-movement-of/) [Seth Shostak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-shostak/) > [Carbon dioxide pollution is transforming the chemistry of the ocean, rapidly making the water more acidic. In decades, rising ocean acidity may challenge life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigourney-weaver/carbon-dioxide-pollution-is-transforming-the-chemistry-of-the-ocean/) [Sigourney Weaver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigourney-weaver/) > [It’s time to move the debate past the dogmatic view that carbon dioxide is evil and toward a world view that accepts the need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-bryce/it-s-time-to-move-the-debate-past-the-dogmatic-view-that-carbon/) [Robert Bryce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-bryce/) [Browse all 263 Carbon dioxide quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carbon-dioxide/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The human eye has to be one of the cruelest tricks nature ever pulled. We can see a tiny, cone-shaped area of light right in front of our faces, restricted to a very narrow band of the electromagnetic spectrum. We can’t see around walls, we can’t see heat or cold, we can’t see electricity or radio signals, we can’t see at a distance. It is a sense so limited that we might as well not have it, yet we have evolved to depend so heavily on it as a species that all other perception has atrophied. We have wound up with the utterly mad and often fatal delusion that if we can’t see something, it doesn’t exist. Virtually all of civilization’s failures can be traced back to that one ominous sentence: ‘I’ll believe it when I see it.’ We can’t even convince the public that global warming is dangerous. Why? Because carbon dioxide happens to be invisible.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "David Wong" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruelest-tricks-nature-ever-pulled/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Carbon dioxide" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruelest-tricks-nature-ever-pulled/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c9/david-wong-1098_carbon-dioxide_the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruel_2827448.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c9/david-wong-1098_carbon-dioxide_the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruel_2827448.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c9/david-wong-1098_carbon-dioxide_the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruel_2827448.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The human eye has to be one of the cruelest tricks nature ever pulled. We can see a tiny, cone-shaped area…” — David Wong", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "David Wong", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-wong/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The human eye has to be...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruelest-tricks-nature-ever-pulled/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-wong/the-human-eye-has-to-be-one-of-the-cruelest-tricks-nature-ever-pulled/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```