Why is the Heart shaped the way it is?

Question

Why is it shaped like <3 (look at the side)

How did one of our organs become the symbol of love??

Answer 1

The heart is shaped the way it is because it is basically a muscle, and is designed to pump blood through the various chambers. It's a very efficient machine, really.
How did it become a symbol of love? Possibly because the heart beat speeds up when near one you love. There's no discernable reaction from the kidney (not very romantic in any case) or the liver. The lungs just keep doing their thing, and you can control your rate of breathing, so the only thing you can truly notice in your body, that you have no control over, is the heart. Just a guess, but perhaps that's how it became the organ of love.

Answer 2

The heart became the symbol of love due to the humours. I olden days before biology, people believed the body was ruled by: blood (Fire) black bile (earth) yellow bile (fire) phlegm (water). Love was thought to be a result or a cause of too much fire in the heart, because your heart beats faster when you're in love.

The heart shape is a stylised version of a heart drawn in the west when human dissection was against the law, so they had little to go on.

Wikipedia says about the shape of the heart:

"The shape does resemble that of the three-chambered heart of the turtle, and that of the human male prostate gland, but it is very unlikely that the image was patterned after either of these organs.


Ancient silver coin from Cyrene depicting a silphium seed or fruit.The "heart" shape could also be considered to depict features of the human female body, such as the female's pubic mound or vulva. A Sumerian cuneiform symbol for "woman" closely resembles the heart shape, and is believed to directly depict the pubic mound. Others maintain that the heart resembles the shape of the female breasts or the female buttocks.

Another possible origin can be seen on the coins of the ancient city of Cyrene, some of which depict the seeds or fruit of the now-extinct silphium plant. The seeds are distinctly heart-shaped. Since this plant was widely used as an ancient herbal contraceptive or abortifacient, this shape may have come to be associated with sexuality and love."

Answer 3

a real heart looks like a bean....
so an artist thought that drawing a bean for a sweetheart symbol just wasn't too good so he/she drew a
flower petal shape instead....
if you look at a rose petal it is what we know now as a heart shape.....
look at diagrams of hearts woud you want that for valentines day/.

Answer 4

...the brain used to be thought to be the vital organ of life...

...Not down playing its importance but if the heart doesn't pump blood to the brain,....the brain is useless.

...the heart became a symbol of love because it actually it the most important organ of your body....so pledging your heart means you are pledging the essence of your life.

Answer 5

Because it is convinient for pumping blood and ensure circulation of blood for the entire body.

Answer 6

It is easy to catch in that shape

Answer 7

Probally because it is like one of the things you have to have to live. But I dont know.

Answer 8

i think it was with the egyptians. they thought that our heart was where all the thinking went on. they thought the brain was nothing. so maybe that has something to do with it. but i dont know.

Answer 9

I've always wondered the same thing.

Answer 10

IT IS THE THERMOMETER OF ALL EMOTIONS......AND EFFECTED BY ALL FEELINGS...... YOU CAN LIVE WITH PARTIAL ORGANS.....BUT NOT WITHOUT HEART......GOTTA HAVE HEART.......