Talk:Need

section 1 (untitled)
What is the significance of the reference to Thomas Franklin Moore on the first line? Thanks John Courtneidge. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.26.171.42 (talk • contribs) 18:53, October 2, 2006

At: http://www.interestfreemoney.org/papers/ourfourneeds.htm an essay ('by' me) that describes a 'Four Component Needs theory' has been (for a longish time) publicised on the internet. If I refer to this on the Wikipedia page, does that constitute an infringement of the Wikipedia rules/guidlines? again, thanks John Courtneidge. — Preceding unsigned comment added by John courtneidge (talk • contribs) 19:11, October 2, 2006
 * A second point:

Ian Gough (two)
The wikilink points to an article on a sportsman, with no mention of any academic background. I take it this is the wrong Ian Gough? Autarch (talk) 14:08, 10 April 2009 (UTC). ✅ - Ian Gough: footballer. --PLA y Grande Covián (talk) 00:09, 19 August 2015 (UTC)
 * I've found: Professor Ian Gough. personal.lse.ac.uk/goughi/
 * I mean: Ian Gough, Professor Emeritus (University of Bath). --PLA y Grande Covián (talk) 00:09, 19 August 2015 (UTC)

Lay it out for the layman...
Maybe I'm being terminally dumb, here, but what separates a "want" from a "psychological need" (or perhaps more tellingly, "subjective need")? Both are things that keep the organism emotionally happy and aren't typically found as motivators in those which lack the higher mental functions to conceive of spending energy to obtain something not absolutely vital for existence. Neither are actually crucial to survival or physical health, or even in some cases basic mental health. They just make your mood better, when you've already covered the actual, "if you don't get enough of this, you will literally die because your respiratory processes will pack up", literal needs. Note, for one thing, the way we have to teach children the difference between "I need" and "I want", and how the former is more likely to be satisfied so long as there's a reasonable basis behind it. If there is actually a separation between them I fancy it's quite fuzzy... 193.63.174.254 (talk) 19:44, 14 November 2016 (UTC)


 * You are not being terminally dumb - this is a common question and I must admit that when I first started studying consumer behaviour, it took me a long time to understand the distinction. Anyway, I'm much older and wiser now - and these days, I get it. I have added some additional commentary to the lead section of this article that hopefully answers your question. Feel free to contact me if you need further clarification. BronHiggs (talk) 09:51, 30 September 2017 (UTC)

Define ‘Unmet’
‘Unmet’ and ‘need’ seem to be very contradictory. If a need is unmet, but the organism survives, is the need actually a need? 2601:541:680:6B10:75FA:1DA2:6534:8875 (talk) 07:52, 28 February 2024 (UTC)