How would life be different on a planet where intelligent life saw heat instead of colour?

Suppose there is a planet where intelligent life (with intelligence approximately same as that of a being of the human species, say) exists. However, due to certain conditions (such as, for example, a sun which gives out light mostly in the IR spectrum), these beings have eyes that see "heat" (in the form of rays of infrared radiation), but not colour (i.e., they can't "see" visible light, ironic as that may sound).

How would the fundamental design of everything be changed?

For example, a door handle may have to be warmed slightly, so as to be able to distinguish it from the surrounding door, assuming the surrounding door is at the same temperature.

Update: Let's ignore this example I provided. Unfortunately, the fact that it somehow did not strike me that IR rays could be reflected seems to have become the focal point of the question at present. In all fairness, putting in an example of a glowing handle was not, well, the brightest of ideas. Apologies.

posted about 10 years ago

aspiring_sarge‭

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