Introduction to Analysis of the Heart

I wish I could write a book on the heart. A math-based logic of the heart, to be specific.

Well, the perceived problem is that our heart contains elements that mostly don't make any logical sense and can't be quantified or qualified. If we could quantify or qualify the elements of the heart, then the mind can pose questions in hopes of seeking a rational answer.

If I were to tell you that I think that heart can be quantified or categorized, or otherwise examined in a logic unique to the science of mathematics, you would probably call me crazy.

But as a math major, I'm learning new things every day, and sometimes those things don't even make sense. But someone wrote a proof, proving an otherwise ridiculous claim to be true, so we should believe it, I suppose.

My first claim: The heart is made up of an infinite number of feelings/characteristics.

The most common idea or word associated with the heart and its use in the non-biological sense is love. Now, we can make this a philosophical question and ask "What does love mean?" but for the sake of my argument, suppose that love is anything you can use in a sentence that makes grammatical sense. I love coffee; I love my mother--two very distinct entities on their own, but both are true of me. So what does this say about the heart?

I propose that the heart is made up of an infinite number of divisions, and these divisions make up a whole. How is that possible? How can an infinite number of items add up together to equal one thing? Well, it's a mathematical idea that has been around for years. Suppose you have a tape measure. A standard tape measure probably reads to 1/16 of an inch. You've got hash marks at 1/2, 1/4, 1/8, 1/6, and you could keep dividing that ONE inch into millions and millions of fractions--an infinite number of times! Scientists are measuring at nano-levels, but there are smaller units than nano, an infinite number of smaller units. So as a summary, 1 inch = an infinite number of units all added together. Not very logical sounding, is it? How does one quantify infinity and then assume it equals one?

Okay, enough of the math lesson... how does this apply to loving my mother and loving my morning coffee and all this schmutz about the heart? Well, I think that the heart has an infinite number of ways that it can love, or hate, or feel pity, or feel embarrassed, or feel sad, or feel angry. We can love watching Star Wars, but we don't love watching movies like we love our family. We can feel bad for the bunny we ran over last night (or maybe not...), but we can feel bad for the kid whose mom is on drugs. It doesn't make those two situations equal to each other.

Feelings lie on more of a continuum, I think. The heart doesn't operate at one level. Man, would that suck! Like my heater/ac fan in my car -- always on high or always on low, there is no middle ground. How would you like to scream "OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS AIR FRESHNER!!!!" just as loud and as exstatically as you would if your best friend told you he/she was getting married. "OH MY GOD I'M SO EFFING HAPPY FOR YOU!!!" Talk about embarrassing. Good thing we've got some dials on this heart thing...

Therefore, the heart = 1inch. Or something like that.