Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a theory in psychology, proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper- A Theory of Human Motivation . It is best represented in a pyramid diagram with the most basic needs at the bottom.

I came across this theory in one of my Financial Management Classes - Introduction to management, in my third year. Now I know what you must be thinking - " Classes and you ???!!!!! @##%%$^ ". The truth is, even though my overall attendance in IIT could not have exceeded 30% in the best case, I quite enjoyed this class and never missed a class in this course. The fact that it was thought by the only attractive, good looking female prof in IIT Madras had very little to do with it.( Those of you who took the course with me , remember Sangamitra Bhattacharya ?? )

Leaving my crushes aside for a minute, This diagram really grabbed my attention. It put everything I had ever thought about life and society into perspective. I began to think .... although that might be hard to believe. Firstly, where do I stand in this pyramid ?? and more importantly, What will I do when I get to the top of the Pyramid. Will I have anything to look forward to when I'm at the top ???

The most basic need according to Maslow are Food water and shelter. People move up the pyramid as they get older. After the basic needs comes the need to be safe, secure and loved.
After that comes the need to boost your self esteem, EEEEgo .

As far as I am concerned ... The bottom Four levels of the pyramid give a classic explanation for how people get dragged into the " Rat Race " . The world economy is a Big well oiled Machine owned by a few major corporations and people are viewed as gears rubbing against each other keeping the machine moving, and Maslow's theory is a tool in the hands of Managers to make their sub-ordinate's life miserable. I think profits without conscience is just a waste of the world's resources. I'm not a pessimist and I'm not a communist, I just describe the world as I see it.

To answer the first question, Where am I in the pyramid ?
I like to think I am at the " Experience purpose, meaning and realizing all inner potential stage ".
If you examine the pyramid closely you will understand that it is possible to move up as well as down the pyramid. It is also possible to skip a few levels and aim for the top directly. For example, when you decide you want to get into IIT, You skip the first three levels and go straight to fulfilling your Esteem Needs. When you achieve the Esteem needs, the needs below are automatically taken care of, or so you think. A saint or sadhu might ignore all the levels and aim for self actualization. He might or might not get it, but the point is that people very rarely realize that they can skip a few levels once in a while. I think this tendency is what keeps people from realizing their true potential in life.

The second question is much more philosophical and difficult to answer than the first one.
What do you do when you have reached the top? what is your motivation to keep living, to wake up every morning and go through the same routine of mundane tasks ? Is there even such a thing as realization of truth or do all people live and die chasing this mirage ?
When a person has reached the top, has he really made a differance to the world or has he just satisfied his own selfish needs ? How long will people remember him after he is dead ? How long will the human race survive ? Aren't human beings completely insignificant when viewed as a part of the larger Universe ?

To answer all these questions I will quote whatever ""Self actualization "" I have experienced so far ( courtesy - Middle's Blog )

" You are not the money you make, You are not the car you own, You are not the school/college you went to, You are not the chick you bang etc. You are simply the all-singing all-dancing crap of the world. It doesn’t matter, you were crap, organic matter, into which life was induced for some reason, and that life shall be taken away again for some reason, if any. So we are propelled into an essence-less existence. But what makes this fundamentally pointless journey meaningful are the two great gifts we have: intellect and sexuality. So concentrate and satiate either one or both, things should fall into place. "


So in my opinion the Maslow's theory is a theory of motivating people, but not a road map to happiness in life. To be happy in life you need to fulfill only two needs , intellect and sex. To represent both these things in a diagram would be something like this ......