Why Doesn't ❤️ Look Like a Heart?
Channel: vlogbrothers
Date: 2024-02-13

In which John falls down a rabbit hole trying to figure out why ❤️ does't look like the thing it is supposed to be, and what that means for love.

Sources:
The heart shape is covered in a section of Martin Kemp's book Christ to Coke: How Image Becomes Icon. I got the smiley face metaphor from that book, as well as a lot of historical background.
I learned about the Indus Valley Civilization hearts from here: https://www.artandobject.com/news/history-heart-shape
and more art from this TED article: https://ideas.ted.com/how-did-the-human-heart-become-associated-with-love-and-how-did-it-turn-into-the-shape-we-know-today/
This article explores Cyrene and its silphium: https://bigthink.com/health/why-heart-shape-symbolizes-love/
And the wikipedia article on this topic is also good (if limited): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heart_symbol

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