You Gotta Have Heart

I heard recently that our Supreme Court Chief Justice nominee did not have the right kind of heart. That statement got me thinking. What does it mean? We seem to hold a lot of importance to statements about the heart. We say things like:

My heart is broken.
You gotta have heart.
I just did not have the heart to tell her.
I had a heavy heart.
I come to you with a heavy heart.
It breaks my heart to have to tell you this.

We even pledge allegiance to our flag by holding our hands across our hearts. Love is represented by stylized pictures of hearts.

All sorts of emotions are described to be related to the heart, when actually all the heart does is circulate blood throughout the body. This is a very important function, but it is its only function. All other statements about the heart are false because emotions are controlled by and caused by our brain and what we think about everyday things which come in contact with our five senses.

I guess this all goes back to hundreds of years ago when it was thought the heart was the center of the body and controlled our emotions. It is interesting that these sayings have continued to be handed down through the years and are still used as though the heart had some emotional control over us when the brain is the organ that influences our emotions.

It gives one a strange feeling to try to give the brain proper credit for emotions in our every day speech. For example, one would never think to say, "She left me and broke my brain." One would never hear, "You gotta have brain." And one would never say, "It breaks my brain to have to tell you this, but your boyfriend made a pass at me." Of course, "We ate a brainy meal." would never be said.

Please forgive this heartless attack on how we use the heart to describe our emotions.