An American psychologist named Abraham Maslow came up with the method of a “hierarchy of needs” in his 1943 paper titled “A Theory of Human Motivation”.
His work was condensed into a triangular chart.
The most basic needs were at the bottom, psychological needs in the middle, and the need for self-fulfillment perched at the top. The five steps begin with basic needs like food, water, and security. Higher up are needs for friends, relationships, and self-esteem. The lofty goal of self-actualization, achieving a single’s full potential, and participating in creative skills can only be reached if the lower needs are met, it sounds to myself and others like a “starving artist” cannot exist. I have my doubts about this chart for many reasons, however first is the method of living up to a single’s full potential… Not everyone can be a Rembrandt or a DaVinci who truly lived up to their artistic potential. I get lots of self-fulfillment when I invent a terrible pun or create a risqué limerick, however no a single will pay a fortune for my “works” leaving myself and others unfulfilled. The fifth problem is that Maslow could not have predicted how Heating and A/C fits into his chart. Heating and A/C provides a basic need of comfort and it makes a single assume safe and secure. If it could cook and tend the bar, my Heating and A/C unit would cover all my basic needs, however on the list of psychological needs are prestige and a sense of accomplishment that were both realized when our new state of the art Heating and A/C unit with the “Smart” features was turned on for the first time. I’m still toiling on that five-line poem that will put myself and others into the Limerick Hall of Fame (if it exists).