An interesting article

[FutureMan]

Hello all, I found this article on the web, to be very interesting and I thought that I might share it with you all.

Please click on this link.

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/do-our-organs-have-memories.html

[watchman]

Interestingly, 30-40 years ago some JW elders were giving talks claiming that very thing, namely that the human heart had a "mind of its own." They claimed that that was why the Bible spoke of the human heart as having its' own thoughts and feelings. I have to admit, I was intrigued by the concept.

However, the WT evidently received quite a bit of ridicule from their promoting that notion, and they repudiated it. I have not checked to see if the WT ever put anything to print on that issue, might be interesting to check. But who really knows? After all, we are just a bunch of cells. Who's to say that normal organ cells do not have the capacity to retain certain chemical and electro impulses that are the the same as brain cell thought impressions?

Frankly, I was disappointed the WT dismissed the notion. Maybe that might be something we can ask Jehovah to explain when we get the chance to sit down and chat.

thanks for sharing

watchman

[Jahsdisciple]

I think there is something to this,but to what extent is hard to say. I watched a doco about 3 heart transplant patients and all 3 had memories that wernt theirs...flashbacks of people who were in the past of the heart donor. They didnt know them and when they told the family of the donor about this they were able to tell the patient who these people were.

[truthseeker]

Yes I remember; it was presented in an assemblie program in the early seventies.
They had a large hart and brain positioned on easels talking to each other.
It made quite an impression on one13 year old if I remember correctly.

[Utuna]

Dear Futureman,

Thanks for sharing that article.

It is sure that some phenomena are disconcerting and puzzling. I've read some scientific articles about said phenomena like NDE (Near Death Experience), the effects of very low infrasounds or ultrasounds on our fleshly body, etc. T'was very interesting. For sure, there are many things about which we don't know much. Our bodies and minds are deeply intertwined and psychological causes may have somatic effects (and vice versa) like, for example, eczema after personal ordeals. Also, someone nervous might not have the same heart as someone else who is phlegmatic.

The phenomenon mentioned in the article you posted is of the same vein.

Nevertheless, I wonder if, in Moses' times, Jehovah would have had spared Pharaoh if the latter had undergone a heart transplant before the Exodus...

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"Le sectarisme des jugements pauvres lui tenait quelquefois lieu de volonté" - Hervé Bazin
"J'ai pétri de la boue et j'en ai fait de l'or" - Charles Baudelaire
"S'il m'a été donné de voir un peu plus loin que les autres, c'est que je me tenais sur les épaules de géants" - Isaac Newton

[Tsaphah]

Interestingly, 30-40 years ago some JW elders were giving talks claiming that very thing, namely that the human heart had a "mind of its own." They claimed that that was why the Bible spoke of the human heart as having its' own thoughts and feelings. I have to admit, I was intrigued by the concept.

However, the WT evidently received quite a bit of ridicule from their promoting that notion, and they repudiated it. I have not checked to see if the WT ever put anything to print on that issue, might be interesting to check. But who really knows? After all, we are just a bunch of cells. Whose to say that normal organ cells do not have the capacity to retain certain chemical and electro impulses that are the the same as brain cell thought impressions?

Frankly, I was disappointed the WT dismissed the notion. Maybe that might be something we can ask Jehovah to explain when we get the chance to sit down and chat.

thanks for sharing

watchman

Here you go watchman. This is what I had handy on the book shelve. This is only a small portion of the information. Scanned from the source.

Aid to Bible Understanding – 1969 WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND AND TRACT SOCIETY OF PENNSYLVANIA

HEART. This important organ of the body pumps the blood (in which is the soul or life) to nourish the body cells.-Lev. 17: 14. All emotions affect the heart. An editorial in Health magazine of February 1966 stated: "Diseased thinking, diseased feelings (emotions), and diseased wills can contribute actively to the development of cardiac disorders." - Page 3.

However, not only do all emotions affect the heart, but there is also evidence that the heart, in turn, affects the emotions. That the heart plays a role in forming the personality of its owner is also indicated by certain medical views. The book Emotions and Bodily Changes, by Flanders Dunbar (Columbia University Press, 1954), page 332, reports: “[Ludwig] Braun says in effect: Anxiety is an inner tactile sensation bound up with a special end apparatus, located in the cardiac tissue, which is well supplied with sensory nerve endings. . . .

"W. H. von Wyss, in a very interesting article, tends to consider the heart the organ of expression not only for anxiety, but for all affects [feelings or emotions]. He says:

" 'Psychic processes, especially emotions, have a bodily resonance and, vice versa, bodily processes have a psychic resonance. . . . Since circulation is that function the cessation of which means instantaneous termination of life, the heart has become one of the most important organs of inner expression. It is for this reason that the heart has such close relationships with the emotional life and has become the symbol of what is really individual in man, the symbol of his virtues and vices. It is the study of these relationships which brings us to the borderland of our knowledge, to the question of what in the last analysis binds psyche and soma into a unity."'

Noteworthy, also, is the report by psychiatrist Dr. Donald T. Lunde in 1969 that a significant percentage of persons receiving heart transplants have become psychotic soon after surgery, while a number of others have exhibited at least temporary emotional disturbances.

[B]THE HEART'S SIGNIFICANCE
In the Bible "heart" is the designation for the seat of affection and motivation. (Ps. 119:11) That the "heart" Is what motivates the mind and course of action is illustrated in the report concerning the preparation for and construction of the tent of meeting in the wilderness. "Everyone whose heart impelled him," all "whose hearts Incited them," contributed materials, skill and labor. (Ex. 35:21, 26, 29) God's spirit acted on the hearts of Bezalel and Oholiab to teach, and to do the fine work required. -EX. 35~30-35.

Because of its motivating force the heart focuses attention on what the person really is inside, so that the apostle Peter could speak of the "secret person of the heart." (1 Pet. 3:3, 4) In Bible usage, the "heart" is considered separate and distinct from the "mind," associated with the brain, although allowing for close interrelation, interplay and interdependency between them. The mind, as the term is applied in English usage, is the intellect or the information gathering and knowledge center. It thinks and reasons on information and reaches conclusions. However, the heart greatly affects the individual's actions, at times overruling the judgment or conclusions of the mind. The mind may, from experience and study, have information tending overwhelmingly to direct it to a particular conclusion. It may even have the logic and reasoning that point all one way, recommending a certain course. But if the heart has no desire to pursue that course and steadfastly refuses to do so, the individual will make a decision contrary to what the mind offers. By thus selecting between optional courses and fixing on one of them, the heart of man is said to 'make plans,' 'thinking out his way.' (Prov. 16:9; 19:21) This is particularly the case in moral or spiritual matters. The mature Scripturally trained heart and mind will be at unity, dot divided in devotion. (Mark 12:29-33) The Scriptures reveal this aspect of the heart's importance, as will be seen in the following consideration.

CENTER OF A THING
The heart being a central organ of the body, the term “heart” is applied to the center or depth of something, such as the “heart of the earth” (Matt. 12:40) and the “heart of the sea.” - Ex 15:8; Jonah 2:3.

We should "take this to heart."

Tsaphah