Life Before Play: The Relationship Between the Human Needs and Path(s) to Self-Actualization
Re-Modeling the Maslow’s Pyramid of Human Needs and Discovering Different Life Paths
Maslow proposed a model of human needs which became popular as it captured, to some degree, the essence of human lives. However, if we examine further while keeping in view the evidence from our lives then we soon see that there are many discrepancies in the proposed model. First of all, it is erroneous to believe that needs exist in a hierarchical pyramid. Many people achieve higher levels of the pyramid without ever fully realizing the lower levels. Secondly, there is no one path that leads to highest level but multiple paths exist. Here, I briefly describe Maslow’s Model and then propose an alternative which better reflects our lives and suggest a few paths to achieve self-actualization.
Maslow’s Need Model
Maslow believed that humans in the society are driven by five main group of needs. He arranged these needs in a hierarchical pyramid with lowest level being survival needs and the top being self-actualization. He noticed that not all people achieve all these needs in their lives so, it compelled him to believe that one must fulfill first a need at the lower level before moving on to a higher level. Following is the listing of these groups of needs.
Physiological Needs
Humans are embodied creatures, so, at the very basic level, every human has a need to preserve the body. Every human need food, water, and oxygen to stay alive. This is the foundation of all needs and therefore, the most important of all.
Safety Needs
In addition to the Physiological needs, human body needs protection from the environmental dangers as well (e.g., disease, climate, natural disasters etc.). Therefore, humans build houses and healthcare systems in order to fulfill the safety needs. As we live in a society that uses a monetary system so, our safety is directly tied to financial stability. Maslow included financial security in the safety needs as well.
Social Belonging
Once a person has secured its existence in the form of physiological and safety needs then one starts to see beyond mere survival. This is where one starts to engage with other humans and seek shared existence. It manifests in the form of friendships, romantic love, social activities in pursuits of social acceptance and validation. Humans make social groups based on common interests and engage in shared activities. These social activities give them a sense of belonging and community.
Esteem Needs
Maslow believed that humans are driven by a desire to achieve greatness by outcompeting others. This can manifest itself in the form of sports, academic excellence, establishing successful business or achieving prominent social position. He thought that lack of fulfillment of esteem needs can cause dissatisfaction with life and general unhappiness. This is why he believed that humans form work hierarchies and strive for promotions and rewards.
Self-Actualization
Once a person has achieved all the previous groups of needs, one start to think beyond oneself and ponder about the bigger questions such as ‘meaning of life’. This compels one to seek philosophical and spiritual knowledge in order to attain a peaceful existence. This is also where the creativity happens, and the boundary of knowledge expands. The greatest works of art, the scientific discoveries and spiritual awakening are some of the prominent examples of self-actualization.
Re-Modeling of the Human Need Structure
Maslow lived in a materialistic culture, and it has been quite sometime since this theory was proposed. We have experienced the pitfalls of materialistic society and have also seen many people deviating from this ‘one-fits-all’ type of need hierarchy. There are many examples of great people who have self-actualized themselves without going through all the layers of Maslow’s pyramid which makes one think whether there exists more than one life paths. Therefore, I am re-modeling the need model and proposing it as a cyclic, multi-path model instead of a hierarchical one.
Paths to Self-Actualization
At the basic level survival is crucial so, physiological and safety needs can be combined and called a need for Life. It is the fundamental level, and most people get stuck at this level without moving further in life. Life needs are non-negotiable, and it is impossible to attain self-actualization without first fulfilling the life needs.
There are three main paths to self-actualization in this new model; Monastic Route, Social Route, and Esteem Route.
The Social Play
A very common tendency of every human is to indulge in social play. This leads to relationships and pair bonding. People engage in social activities for the purpose of obtaining pleasure. Most people get stuck in a hedonic cycle between social play and life needs. This ‘hedonic trap’ is what prevents the majority from actualizing their true self. Only the ones who transcend the materialistic pleasure and sublimate it into something creative or spiritual are the ones who attain self-actualization.
It is however, to be noted that self-actualization is not a static point and in order to sustain it one must constantly strive to be at that state. People who sublimate their Nihilism originating as a result of hedonistic ‘social play’, into something constructive, such as a work of art or scientific discovery or a spiritual enlightenment are the ones who stay at the self-actualization zenith.
The Esteem Play
Another way to achieve self-actualization is by going deep into materialism so much so that it becomes meaningless. This is the path that a very few materially successful people use to attain enlightenment. This includes business tycoons, top celebrities, and other materially powerful people. (e.g. Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Nobel Prize winners etc.). It is not a guarantee that a highly materialistic path would lead to enlightenment but there is a slim possibility that it would appear eventually for some people. This is the most common and the easiest route however, self-actualization is not necessarily achievable in all cases.
The Monastic Route
After attaining life needs, one can directly attain self-actualization through introspection, attainment of spiritual knowledge and meditative practices. This route is what is often taken by Buddhist monks, Ascetics and Christian mystics. This appears to be a shortcut; however, it is the hardest path to self-actualization.
Conclusions
Maslow proposed a model which is not sufficient to explain the diversity of paths towards self-actualization that humans pursue. So, a re-modeling of the human needs structure is what I have proposed. Hopefully this explains the concept and allows people to choose the correct path which suits them best.