Heidegger’s “mood theory” explains why you do anything at all
What made you click on this article? What part of your bubbling unconscious made you open this link today? I suspect there wasn’t much of a conscious decision. You probably didn’t stare into space for five seconds weighing up the pros and cons of clicking versus carrying on your internet scroll. Something about you, something in your being, pushed you to open this article. And thank you for doing so. You’re very welcome. This article will carry on a bit longer, but will you? Because just as there was something that made you click, there will be something that makes you read to the end or something that pulls you away. There is no easy answer to what that thing is. The neurolimbic, biological processes underpinning decision-making are unknown to the best of modern science, let alone available to you right now. And those swirling, unseen forces deserve more recognition. They push us far more than we appreciate. For Martin Heidegger, we need to pay far more philosophical attention to our moods. Thrown into the …