11 replies to this topic

[Ahsaniqbal111]

Everybody will have noticed that whenever someone feels something about someone, he says my heart feels this and this. I have noticed this with almost 99% people. None of them say that there mind is happy. Every one say that their heart is happy today. No one say that there mind fell in love with someone. Everyone say that their heart fell in love with someone.
If we have a look at the scientific explanation for the relation of heart with human feeling we will find that heart has nothing to do with feelings. Feelings like pleasure, pain, thinking, love, hatred etc are all related solely to brain. In fact all the feelings of any human are related only and only to the brain and no feeling has anything to do with the brain. All the advanced nervous centers that make us feel things and have a rue human sensation lie in the brain and none of them has any relation with the brain. Now the point is that in most countries of the world the education rate is higher than 70%. All of the educated people know that heart has nothing to do with human feelings but still when they feel happy they say their heart is happy today. No one says that their brain is doing very well today.
After much thinking I came to conclude the following points about this fact that may be the possible reasons for these common happenings.
Humans have a tendency to do the same things that their elders do. In fact every living thing in the world learns from the elders and become a similar thing. So if the parents of someone say that Meat is a bad food and we should not eat it then almost all of their children will not eat meat. Similar is the case with this problem. If the parents use the terminology that their heart is feeling good, their heart is feeling bad, their heart is in love etc, the children will have a natural tendency to speak in a similar way no matter how educated they get. Yes they can change the way in which they speak but I am talking here about natural tendencies.
Now the question arises that why do the parents speak like that. The simple answer would be that the parents speak like that because they have seen their parents speak like that and the parent of the parents have seen their parents speak like that. So it is like a chain going on but it must have a starting point. In my opinion the starting point must be a bit ancient. It would be near the time when civilization started. I have a speculation about it.
In the dark ages when the scientific knowledge was not that common, people were limited to their experiences to gain knowledge. Nowadays we know the reasons that why in state of fright the heartbeat raises abruptly. We know that it is because of mass sympathetic discharge in the body but ancient people would not know it. Their observation will be that whenever the conditions are frightening, the heart begins to beat faster and faster. They would simply say that the heart becomes frightened. Similarly when they fell in love with someone they observed changes in heart beats. Although these are actually because of the nervous system, but ancient people would not have any knowledge of the nervous system and sympathetic discharge etc so they would simply say that the heart fell in love. All the other organs of the body show no changes (observable and sensible). Even the brain which is the actual organ involved in all these happenings show no observable and sensible changes therefore the ancient men with no knowledge of physiology and nervous system were natural to think that it is the heart that senses all feelings and is the prime organ of the human body. From these ancient people the chain continues and it keeps continuing because an educated man of today also uses the same terminology.

[Illustrious]

In my opinion, this is because hearts usually contain a connotation resembling love, warmth, etc. so people will refer feelings to the heart. Also, when people claim that they are heartbroken, they feel a pain on their chest somewhere near their heart. Nowadays, if you say, "My mind is feeling... (this or that)", it will not sound right. I am pretty sure that most people are capable of correcting themselves but the word, heart, is more preferable over the word, mind, when deciding on which object to relate feelings to.

[Jonnii]

In my opinion, this is because hearts usually contain a connotation resembling love, warmth, etc. so people will refer feelings to the heart. Also, when people claim that they are heartbroken, they feel a pain on their chest somewhere near their heart. Nowadays, if you say, "My mind is feeling... (this or that)", it will not sound right. I am pretty sure that most people are capable of correcting themselves but the word, heart, is more preferable over the word, mind, when deciding on which object to relate feelings to.

Good explanation. People have a knack of associating things eg, with Santa Clause being fat, in a red suit and climbs down chimneys but that whole idea was made up by Coke Cola for a TV adverts years ago. Since then everyone has stuck with and used that 'image' for the big guy.

I guess its the same thing here. Like Illustrious said, people resemble the heart with love, pain etc.

[manuleka]

heart to emotion as the mind to wisdom

in my opinion, the heart has been used in relation to emotion way before human really discover or realize the brain is the main center of feeling and control center of the whole body's nervous system...

so in history, humans define the heart as the source and controller of blood circulation which distributes warmth to the rest of the body hence warmth comes or felt from the heart...

[8ennett]

Have you ever found someone who makes your heart beat faster when you look in their eyes? or even when they walk in to the room?

In my opinion I think through history this increase in heart rate along with a shortness of breathe from that feeling you get in the middle of your chest is why the heart is so commonly associated with romance.

[ritu]

The point that you bring to focus is a right one, however what I feel is that there is a relation between emotions and the heart, it is the effect that emotions can have on the heart. Some of the effects may be instantaneous, others take time to influence the proper functioning of the heart. Just found this information, felt like sharing with you.

[Ahsaniqbal111]

@ritu, I just gave a superficial look to the article you linked to ( I couldn't give it much time::: sorry for that).. But based on my studies as a medical student, I can tell you one simple thing. All emotions, no matter what kind, are related directly to your brain. The effects of emotions on other sytems/organs of body are secondary effects produced because of activation/inhibition of some parts of brain and release/cessation to release of certain hormones (which is also controlled by brain).

So the end result is that all effects produced by emotional stimulation are because of your brain. For example, the increase in heart beat at times of stress isn't because stress directly causes the heart to beat faster. It is because the stress causes the brain to enhance the activity of sympathetic part of autonomic nervous system and one of the many effects of this increased activity is tachcardia (faster heart beat).

I hope you got my point.

[ritu]

I guess you haven't been able to get my point exactly, I said that emotions have an effect on the heart, brain is the cause of that effect,not the effect itself, I totally understand when you state about the functions of the brain, but the article that I linked was about how emotions that are generated or whatever technical term for that, by the brain, and they cause some effect on the heart which at times does get noticeable, moreover the topic was about how emotions can be related to the heart, so are effects not to be taken as something to be related?

[Ahsaniqbal111]

I guess I misunderstood your previous post....... my bad!

By the way one thing I want to add here is that all of the effects of emotions on different parts of body are mediated by the brain in such a way that the result is more likely to be beneficial than harmful. For instance, when you see something fearful, the brain activates the sympathetic part of autonomic nervous system. As a result, the body is prepared for the "Fight or Flight" response. The changes in the body because of this sympathetic stimulation include increase of blood pressure (to provide extra nutrients to various organs of body), increase in diameter of trachea and bronchi (so that increased amount of air/oxygen can go into the lungs and thence to the blood), relaxation of pupils (to enhance vision), vasodilation of arteries supplying the skeletal muscles (so that your muscles can work harder) etc etc.

But the similar changes can be harmful in certain conditions for instance the same sympathetic stimulation as discussed above can be fatal for heart patients or patients with atherosclerosis.

[ritu]

Hmmmm, that is an enlightening analysis, good to know that the world would have people like you to support dedicated research in the medical field, we really need that you know, for there have so many cases which have made people lose trust on the doctors. I hope that is regained. Good luck.

[Ahsaniqbal111]

LOL! that was funny:

I am not a Doctor YET:

I have still to go through the harsh studies for 3 more years and then you can call me a doctor...

I hope I complete it while I am still alive........

[ritu]

Oh! so you are a doctor in the making,I thought you were already one, however, I wish you loads of luck for going through this "harsh" phase smoothly.