The Heart Isn’t a Pump and Why Teachers Shouldn’t be Either.
Just a warning, the next paragraph WILL NOT contain anything NEW or a REVELATION, but bear with me. I promise there’s a point.
According to WebMD, “The heart is a muscular organ about the size of a fist, located just behind and slightly left of the breastbone. The heart pumps blood through the network of arteries and veins called the cardiovascular system.”
“The heart has four chambers”
“The right atrium receives blood . . . and pumps it . . .”
“The right ventricle . . . pumps it to the lungs . . .”
“The left atrium receives . . . and pumps it . . .” “The left ventricle pumps . . .”
It’s pretty clear that WebMD and the probably the rest of us, would agree that the “heart is a pump”. I always have. It’s the engine that drives the body. The heart delivers nutrients and oxygen to all parts of our body. The heart is the general. The heart is the mechanism that initiates our
survival. Our life. No heart beat, no life.
But, that paradigm is all wrong.
I came across this counter-intuitive idea in Dan Barber’s amazing book, The Third Plate.
(Shameless plug, Dan graciously took part in an #edbookchat on Twitter in July…
