You’ll recognise Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. It’s been used to reference the psychology of human motivation since the 1940s. The broad foundation is physiological – clean teeth, a roof over your head and a bit of breakfast. Once you’ve had your porridge, needs become increasingly complex. They rise through safety, love, esteem and peak at the holy grail of something that feels like a life well-lived – self-actualisation.
The popular understanding is that we all start at baseline. Once your needs are met on each ‘level’ you can finally get to (deep breath) the complete realisation of your human potential. Game ON, right?
WELL. This reductionist interpretation was invented and popularised (likely) by management consultants who wanted to improve productivity. This wasn’t Maslow’s intention. He was about growth yes, but also nuance and human curiosity.
In reality, most people are partially satisfied with their lot and any behaviour tends to be motivated by multiple needs rather than one of them.
Your feed/inbox/notifications will keep you middling on that pyramid for as long as you’re willing to hang around. Don’t expect much next-level satisfaction, just endless CLICK HERE solutions to needs that for the most part, you didn’t even know you had.
It’s a distraction, but do we even know what we’re looking for amidst all hard scrolling anymore? I’ve never even seen self-actualisation on a homepage drop down - it’s almost as though I’m looking in the wrong place.
The choice
If you’re striving for self-actualisation (and aren’t we all?) then great news – there’s lots of ways to free yourself from adding more needs to your pile. A reframing of context is as good a place to start.
Williams Burroughs would take the New York Times, cut and paste words, build new sentences and then say, “Let’s see what the real news is!”
This is scrappy subculture genius – critical thinking to shift messaging that takes you beyond the page.
What’s the agenda, what are you buying into and what story are you gonna tell? Some stories will trap you. Others will set you free.
Middling
There’s a growing chasm between my tastes and the work that I’m able to create/open to sharing. It means my output has slowed, feels trite and is constantly disappointing me.
I’m reading this life-changing (v good) book Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin and this quote showed up like the last piece of a puzzle,
“There is a time for any fledgling artist where one's taste exceeds one's abilities. The only way to get through this period is to make things anyway.”
Bon oui. Self-actualisation seems to be taking a lifetime. But maybe that’s the point.
Right now, I’m hitting send on partial satisfaction, nuance and human curiosity – the best of the rest. Business as usual then.