Saturday, December 13, 2008

I Need To Know!!

A person without thoughts is not a possibility. The thoughts may be redundant, silly, stimulating, destructive..anything but, thoughts they are! We think about multifarious things in a day. Thoughts triggered by different events, with a varied essence and of varying magnitudes.
According to me Maslow's Pyramid of needs helps in answering a lot of questions which are physiological and psychological in nature. It can help each of us identify the pattern of our thoughts.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs consists of five levels: the four lower levels are grouped together as being associated with Physiological needs, while the top level is termed growth needs associated with psychological needs. Deficiency needs must be met first. Once these are met, seeking to satisfy growth needs drives personal growth. The higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus when the lower needs in the pyramid are satisfied. If a lower set of needs is no longer being met, the individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs by focusing attention on the unfulfilled needs, but will not permanently regress to the lower level.

So when we actually reach the stage of self-actualization we are apparently materially and emotionally satisfied individuals.



Of the last few months I can visualize myself as an animated stick figure trekking up the learning curve of my organization, Maslow's hierarchy and life on the whole. After a lot of analysis I figured I think I'm in the "Need to Know and Understand" segment.

So where do you think you figure in the hierarchy of needs??

P.S: Cross posted from my other blog, Life is above it all.

10 comments:

Liberal said...

nice one...Maslow himself updated his heirarchy by adding transcendence above self actualization...i think we are all at a mix of these stages and not at one particular stage.

Fat Gujju! said...

One thing Maslow assumes tht humans always travel from one need to another, rather if one's physical needs are not satisfied than one WONT go for higher needs. But tht does not explain a priest's attitude who goes hungry for days to achieve a hint of nirvana!
there is one more theory proposed by some oder guy wich foregoes d aforementioned assumption....
nonetheless good attmpt...

Gradwolf said...

I think read Maslow's hierarchy in Professional Ethics or some management course during engineering.

I think I gave it a miss before the exams!

buddy said...

oh my god! remember all those days of mugging up IEM on the slope?

@fat gujju: WOW.. i had no idea you had such deep thoughts!

Nandini Vishwanath said...

I wonder if we ever really will not 'need' anything. Or mebbe the word is 'want?'

maxdavinci said...

cross-posting = duplicate content.

also you gave yourself a backlink!


lol, anyways the rest was too hi funda for me...

Sneha P said...

@Liberal:
Well we do move ahead but we never completely move on!

@Fat Gujju:
Hmmm....It would be worth a read if you could tell me who the other guy was..I've willing to explore new theories..

@Gradwolf:
lol..thats quite excusable i think...
we are supposed to omit stuff before exams!

@buddy:
I actually enjoyed IEM..
and yes i second u on viral..

@Nandini Vishwanath:
yes...that day never comes..which is why only few of us ever reach self actualization let alone transcendence.

@maxdavinci:
Optimiz'er'!!!!! :P

sthitapragnya said...

ahem...ahem...well, I think all of us are as fickle as one can get. Sometimes, circumstances are such that we force ourselves to step down a notch or two. And also, human needs are insatiable, hence the top two stages of Maslow's pyramid are a mirage that everyone seeks but never finds. My view might sound like sour grapes, but you know I'm right. Self-actualization and transcendence are way beyond a materialistic human mind. Don't get me wrong, but the stage you think you are in is perhaps as far as you can get. ;)

Sneha P said...

@sthitapragnya:
not getting u wrong in the least..actually i'm of pretty much the same opinion as you..

Fat Gujju! said...

ha ha ha ha ...
i too never thot i m capable of thinkin in such way.. lookin bak mebbe i was drunk while commenting anyways the oder theory is:

Clayton Alderfer's ERG theory...
almost same basis but unlike Maslow's this theory is based on some research does not have tht much rigid structure....

http://www.netmba.com/mgmt/ob/motivation/erg/