Had he been informed by an indisputable authority that the end of the world was to be finally accomplished by a catastrophic disturbance of the atmosphere, he would have assimilated the information under the simple idea of dirty weather, and no other, because he had no experience of cataclysms, and belief does not necessarily imply comprehension.
In Joseph Conrad's works, the character's perspective illustrates a lack of understanding regarding profound concepts when faced with overwhelming information. The notion that a catastrophic event would bring about the end of the world would be simplified in his mind to just a phenomenon like bad weather. This reflects a common human tendency to downplay extraordinary claims without personal experience of such events.
This passage emphasizes that mere belief does not guarantee genuine understanding; one can accept information without fully grasping its significance. The character's interpretation indicates a disconnect between knowledge and comprehension, highlighting the limitations of human perception in the face of monumental truths.
