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On Our Adapting Hierarchy of Needs and Not Having Enough
American psychologist Abraham Maslow created a theory of psychological health known as the Hierarchy of Needs.
The premise as I understand it to be, is that we all have basic human requirements that must be met. Once met, we move up to achieve things giving us greater meaning and achievement, until the point at the top of the pyramid — Self-Actualization. There is a higher purpose to everything, and we must seek to fulfill it.
Most of the developed world has the bottom two stages met. Physiological, and Safety, which makes up our “Basic Needs.” Belongingness is rather tricky to calculate, as there are many ways to categorize “intimate relationships,” and “friends.” Is it quality? Quantity? Both? Do you feel society accepts you? Do you feel like you are heard? This part of the hierarchy can be a place of very deep suffering if going unmet. We are social beings. We require connection.
However, it is not my purpose to touch on this area. Rather, to shed a light on something we often gloss over.
We are living in one of the safest times in history, (the media would have you believe otherwise), and are nearing the pinnacle of this hierarchy in our developed world.
Yet we aren’t happy.
There are places on this planet where someone may be happy just to have food. To meet basic physiological requirements. Others, that are seeking safety for themselves, and their families. And few that have yet to form deep relationships with others, for many reasons that go beyond the scope of this article.
Here we are, at the top. Upset because our leg room on our flight sucks. Wi-Fi is too slow. Someone cut us off in traffic. Power goes out for two minutes. Our Amazon Prime order didn’t show up fast enough. That Instagram post didn’t get enough likes. We missed breakfast so we got “hangry.” Which condo should we buy? Does it make sense to go to school here, or there? Why won’t so and so return my calls?
As we adapt, our problems follow. We move up the hierarchy, and our…
