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[umiman]

You know, I was wondering... was the word "heart" invented before people knew what the heart was? Or was that word only invented when people knew what it was?

You know how since forever, people have associated heart with love and feelings... But the question is, did they know what the heart was or were they guessing at some unknown thing inside their body which they assumed controlled those things?

So... what do you think? Do you think people created that word to express feelings before finding out that an organ existed in our chest, in which they just associate it to that? Or was that word only invented when they knew what it was?

[Leafsnail]

I believe the ancient Greeks had done a lot of dissecting, and knew about the internal organs.  Looking through the body, they decided that the brain's job was to cool the blood (because it was crinkly and lost a lot of heat) and the heart's job was to control emotions (because, at times of high emotions, the beating speeds up).  Dunno if this is where our associatiosn come from though.

[Aqizzar]

Could also be that European (and probably other?) cultures associated blood with intense emotions, humors and so forth.  Since all the blood moves through the heart, well it's gotta have something to do with emotion, right?

[umiman]

Actually, I'm pretty certain that almost every culture associates blood and the heart with emotions. It's a universal thing, like alcohol... That's why I'm a bit confused. How can multiple cultures with extremely diverse backgrounds come up with the exact same associations?

[Heron TSG]

You know how since forever, people have associated heart with love and feelings

Actually, most people believed love came from the bowels in the early medieval era.

[Aqizzar]

You know how since forever, people have associated heart with love and feelings

Actually, most people believed love came from the bowels in the early medieval era.

Well, they knew the Hell they were talking about alright...

[woose1]

What the fuck are you doing to this thread, Yanlin?

[HAMMERMILL]

I'm pretty sure ancient people were cutting the hearts out of animals and other people long before they developed a written or spoken launguage.

If it was pulsating and spraying blood everywhere, I'm sure somebody got the idea that it was important somehow and maybe related to their own pulse and heartbeat...

[Kagus]

I believe another old belief as to the "emotional organ" was the liver.  Quite frankly, I'd love to see a Valentine's Day card with a liver on it.

[HAMMERMILL]

Well, back in the day they thought a woman's "special lady parts" caused female emotions and hysteria. Thats where the term 'Hysterectomy' comes from.

That'd be a really avant-garde thing to put on a post card for Valentine's day, btw.

[SniHjen]

Well, back in the day they thought a woman's "special lady parts" caused female emotions and hysteria. Thats where the term 'Hysterectomy' comes from.

And the vibrator was invented as a tool to assist in curing hysteria.

[Duke 2.0]

Well, back in the day they thought a woman's "special lady parts" caused female emotions and hysteria. Thats where the term 'Hysterectomy' comes from.

That'd be a really avant-garde thing to put on a post card for Valentine's day, btw.

 More horrifically, the common idea of how to sure this hysteria was to, ahem, 'please' said parts. And thus was born the steam-powered vibrator.

 But yes, a lot of interesting things happen with unrelated Human culture. Many accounts of inventions sprouting up in isolated areas of the globe. Many similar spiritualities popping up back when traveling between such places was impossible. There are functions of the human body that we don't fully understand, and likely never will thanks to the vagueness and rarity of such occurrences.

[Leafsnail]

Yeah, the heart beats.  It pulsates.  It spews blood everywhere if you cut it out.  It must be doing something important, right?  All the rest of the internal organs just sortof sit there, doing nothing.  Especially the lazy ass brain.

[Kagus]

Probably why people thought it would actually be helpful to jam a couple spikes into it.

[Duke 2.0]

 Dammit Yanlin, stop it. We don't need another thread to derail in that direction.

 I think the Egyptians thought the heart acted as the brain, and the brain was just useless mush.