QuoteProject
I don't think it had ever occurred to me that man's supremacy is not primarily due to his brain, as most of the books would have one think. It is due to the brain's capacity to make use of the information conveyed to it by a narrow band of visible light rays. His civilization, all that he had achieved or might achieve, hung upon his ability to perceive that range of vibrations from red to violet. Without that, he was lost.
John Wyndham
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Human superiority is rooted in the ability to perceive light rather than just intelligence.

In this quote, John Wyndham emphasizes that what sets humans apart from other species is not merely their brainpower, but rather their capacity to interpret and utilize the information from visible light. This perception allows for the development of civilization and culture, suggesting that our understanding of the world is fundamentally tied to our sensory experience of it.

Themes

PerceptionLightCivilizationIntelligenceVibrations

In practice

Example use cases

A speaker at a science conference might use this quote to highlight the importance of human perception in scientific discovery.

More from John Wyndham

To deprive a gregarious creature of companionship is to maim it, to outrage its nature. The prisoner and the cenobite are aware that the herd exists beyond their exile; they are an aspect of it. But when the herd no longer exists, there is, for the herd creature, no longer entity, a part of no whole; a freak without a place. If he cannot hold on to his reason, then he is lost indeed; most utterly, most fearfully lost, so that he becomes no more than the twitch in the limb of a corpse.
John WyndhamRead
Knowledge is simply a kind of fuel; it needs the motor of understanding to convert it into power.
John WyndhamRead
Knowing makes all the difference... It's the difference between just trying to keep alive, and having something to live for
John WyndhamRead

Similar quotes

How quickly passes away the glory of this world.
Thomas A KempisRead
However, if the religions in essence merely repeat statements from the United Nations Human Rights Declaration, such a Declaration becomes superfluous; an ethic is more than rights.
Hans KungRead
Last I checked, Bill Gates was worth $50 billion. If the average employed adult, who is walking in a hurry, will pick up a quarter from the sidewalk, but not a dime, then the corresponding amount of money given their relative wealth that Bill Gates would ignore if he saw it lying on the street is $25,000.
Neil Degrasse TysonRead
Women, like men, ought to have their youth so glutted with freedom they hate the very idea of freedom.
Vita Sackville-WestRead
If you can get the inside right, the outside will fall into place.
Eckhart TolleRead
Forget about your life situation and pay attention to your life. Your life situation exists in time. Your life is now. Your life situation is mind-stuff. Your life is real." "Instead of asking 'what do I want from life?,' a more powerful question is, 'what does life want from me?'
Eckhart TolleRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.