With the rise of classical Greece, the soul debate evolved into the more familiar heart-versus-brain, the liver having been demoted to an accessory role. We are fortunate that this is so, for we would otherwise have been faced with Celine Dion singing "My Liver Belongs to You" and movie houses playing The Liver Is a Lonely Hunter. Every Spanish love song that contains the word corazon, which is all of them, would contain the somewhat less lilting higado, and bumper stickers would proclaim, "I [liver symbol] my Pekingese. Mary Roach
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The liver is the organ that is responsible for making bile, which is necessary for digestion. It also produces blood cells, and if it gets damaged by disease or surgery you can get an anemia. The heart-versus-brain debate refers to the idea that the heart is the center of the body and controls all of our vital functions. Obviously, this view has at some point been challenged by newer scientific ideas.

The liver has now been demoted to an accessory role in our bodies, but it is still vital, as it can be damaged by diseases like hepatitis. As a result of their roles in life, love songs usually include references to either the heart or the liver.

Source: Stiff: The Curious Lives Of Human Cadavers

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