I argue that direct attention has a limited disclosive capacity. First, I argue that there are certain phenomena that direct attention is
fundamentally incapable of disclosing, since there exists a fundamental tension between the nature of these phenomena on the one hand and direct attention on the other. Second, I show that situations in which we aim to access our own higher‑order thought processes constitute a further category of cases in which direct attention is limited. Third, I argue, drawing on Heidegger, that direct attention is not only limited when we aim to gain knowledge of ourselves and our own minds, but also with respect to knowledge of our existence and the world around us.