Why is the heart a symbol of love?
But Why: A Podcast for Curious Kids
Vermont Public
4.4 • 4.9K Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2022
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Why is the heart a symbol of love? Why do people draw hearts when they love someone? Why do we draw hearts the way we do when they're nothing like the hearts inside of your body? And do we need a heart to love or does the brain do it? We’re learning all about hearts and symbolism with Thomas and Stephen Amidon, authors of The Sublime Engine: A Biography of the Human Heart.
Download our learning guides: PDF | Google Slide | Transcript
No one really knows where the heart symbol comes from, but there are theories. One is that the heart shape comes from the shape of the leaves of a now-extinct plant called silphium, which was considered a key component of a love potion in the time of the Romans. Another theory is that St. Valentine used the symbol when arranging secret marriages. Another is that it was simply a guess of what the human heart looked like.
Love and other emotions are actually regulated in the brain, not the heart. Specifically, a part of the brain called the amygdala.
People might partly associate the heart with strong emotions like love because when we get excited to see someone, our heart sometimes beats faster, and we notice our heartbeat. We aren’t really aware of what’s happening in our brain.
The human heart pumps blood to all parts of your body. The heart beats once a second. If you live to the age of 70, your heart will have beat about 2 billion times!
Resources
How the heart actually pumps blood - TEDEd
Your Hardworking Heart and Spectacular Circulatory System by Paul Mason
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | If you're on the hunt for the perfect holiday gift for the kids in your life this season, |
| 0:08.6 | don't forget, but why has books? |
| 0:11.0 | They're great for independent readers or for adults to read to younger kids. |
| 0:15.6 | So if you and your kids would like to know what animal can regenerate its limbs better |
| 0:20.6 | than almost any other animal in the world, or what jellyfish are actually made out of, |
| 0:26.2 | get your hands on Do Fish Breathe underwater. |
| 0:29.0 | Or book all about the ocean. |
| 0:31.2 | Maybe farm animals are more your kids' speed. |
| 0:33.5 | In that case, try our Lama's Ticklish. |
| 0:36.5 | You can find our books at your local bookstore or online, and you can learn more at butwhykids.org |
| 0:42.3 | or slash books. |
| 1:07.8 | This is But Why, a podcast for curious kids from Vermont Public Radio. |
| 1:12.4 | I'm Jane Lintol. |
| 1:14.1 | On this show, we take questions from kids all over the world, on any topic you want to |
| 1:19.1 | learn more about, and it's our job to track down interesting people who know something |
| 1:23.4 | about what you're wondering. |
| 1:25.1 | And then they tell us what they know, and we all get to learn something cool. |
| 1:29.6 | On the day we're putting this episode out, it's almost the middle of February, which means |
| 1:34.8 | in many parts of the world, it's almost a day that some people choose to celebrate |
| 1:39.4 | love, a day called Valentine's Day. |
| 1:43.1 | As part of Valentine's Day celebrations, you might see big red and pink hearts in stores |
| 1:49.0 | and on candy and chocolates. |
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