Before humans knew that brains are where thoughts come from, did they gesture "think" by pointing to our touching their heads?

Probably not. They probably pointed to their chests as the heart was considered the seat of thought.

Well, the ancient Egyptians thought the brain was nothing more than something to keep the skull from caving in. They actually thought the heart was the center of thought. This makes a certain amount of sense to me as your heart beats in accordance to your feelings speeds up if you’re angry, afraid, etc. whereas the brain doesn’t seem to do much.

Wow, I need to read other answers more closely. @marinelife said it first. :-P

The gesture you refer to is captured here in an ancient statue.

Thoughts come from our brains!?... I gotta have a talk with my dick!

Who knows?

Are you asking for certain knowledge or a “gut feeling”.

Uh oh… hold the phone… “gut feeling”?

I think you should take your question even farther: before humans knew that one’s brain is where one’s thoughts come from, did we even have a word or concept for “thought”? I doubt it.

@CyanoticWasp Are you sure that’s an ancient statue? Maybe I’m wrong, but I think your time-line is off. I have never seen that statue before, but from its appearance I would say it looks like Jesus and not even a classical Jesus. I’m pretty sure whoever made that statue knew about brains.

Edit: After looking around, I found your statue. It appears on the site of St. Joseph’s Old Cathedral in Oklahoma City. This is what’s written about it on their website: ” ‘And Jesus Wept’ statue: Behind St. Joseph Old Cathedral stands a shrine in remembrance of the April 19, 1995, bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City. The focal point of the shrine is a statue of Jesus who faces away from the tragic sight; He holds His face in His hands in sorrow.” I haven’t found any evidence to suggest it’s a copy of an old design – do you have reason to suggest that it is?

It’s interesting that so many refer to someone as “having brains”...when, obviously, each of us only has one…while some of us act as though we have none.

I believe ancients thought their feelings came from their heart. I don’t think that consideration was given to thought.

@nicobanks it was a j-word. (You, know, a j-o-a-k. The thing we don’t dare do on Fluther any more, because it doesn’t “give the proper respect” to the Q. Although this was a fairly respectable Q.)

What is a j-o-a-k?

Is that a part of a joke?

@CyanoticWasp Oh. Well, I don’t necessarily think jokes are disrespectful to questions, but they can be hard to communicate through text. Especially because the particular picture you linked to looks old, so I thought you were simply confused. /sigh