Human Nature

I'd like to discuss Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs to further explain what I was saying in class about human nature.

The first basic human need is physiological: breathing, food, water, sleep, homeostasis

If you do not achieve all of these, you are not concerned with anything else; that is your primary concern and only when all of those needs are fulfilled can you worry about your safety needs. Human safety needs include security of body, employment, resources, morality, family, health, and property. It may seem that these are of equal importance, but if one is starving, they will only worry of their next meal. When they are fed, they will finally try to devise a way to tap a steady supply of food.

Once all of one's basic needs are taken care of, we seek a sense of love and belonging: friendship, family, and sexual intimacy.

Esteem comes next: self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respect of others, and respect by others. This is the level on which most U.S. citizens are operating. Our basic survival needs are taken care of. Subconsciously or consciously, we crave respect and achievement, usually in the form of progress; this is partially why video games have the potential to be "addictive."
This is where unnecessary material goods come into play. You want that new Escalade on a conscious level because it looks nice. You may even attempt to justify the purchase to yourself by looking at features that it has that may be useful to you that aren't related to looks. But let's be honest, you bought that ridiculous, overpriced atrocity with an engine block made of volcanic rock and amusing safety ratings to impress people. You are fulfilling the fourth level of Maslow's
hierarchy of needs.

At the tip of the pyramid is self-actualization; most people never even attempt to satisfy this level because they are never truly satisfied with their esteem. This final level includes morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, and acceptance of facts. One may trick themselves into thinking that they are fulfilling this level, but all of these things need to occur on a subconscious level for them to truly be fulfilled.

That beggar on the street doesn't have different values from you; they aren't enlightened. Or maybe they are. Who knows? The point is that they are simply trying to fulfill the very first level of Maslow's hierarchy of needs; he just wants to feed himself and his family. Or maybe he needs crack money. A physical addiction can easily come on the same level as, or even replace, necessities such as food.

When he gets fed and gets his fix, maybe he'll look into getting a job to fulfill the second level of security. After that, he'll be working on his love and belonging level. And guess what's next. The Escalade. The Escalade is what is next for our crack-loving friend.