User:Douglas Jack

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs as a structure for human relations

This post is just stating the obvious, but we can understand Abraham Maslow's 'Hierarchy of Needs' as a priority structure for human relations and communications. When we are engaging each other in human society and dialogues, the observing of human priorities is an important concept found in all 'indigenous' (Latin = 'self-generating') societies. "Have you eaten?" is an old Chinese greeting based on confirming the basic human relations practice of concern for human priorities or basics. Without this hierarchy of needs we would cease to exist. The video game addict who forgets to eat long enough, or the gambling addict wearing a diaper so he or she can continue to feed a hungry slot machine all exemplify mispriorities of need.

If you are hungry, I will not waste words about other less important subjects. Maslow structured needs so that we can relate to each other with due regard. In this sense those physiological (air, water, food, (shelter, clothing), warmth, & health) needs at the bottom of the pyramid are adressed first and provide a foundation upon which other needs rest.

The colonial 'exogenous' (Latin = 'other-generated') societies to which we belong and have attempted to restructure the world to, are based in 'taking' (Refer to Ishmael 'Leavers and Takers') often in hidden structures not obvious to those who live by these imperial systems. Trade agreements struck with 3rd world elite for example may have stewards of orchard forest productivity driven into squatter camps from their now occupied (mining, export monocultures, logging and other resource extractive economies) working for pennies per hour and exporting to countries where tens of dollars per hour are the norm. This human injustice is hidden to the coffee addict simply wanting to fullfill a false but seemingly pressing physiological need. In exogenous societies we become confused by social and economic status as to who matters and who supposedly doesn't, yet we are all part of the same human structure with physiological needs coming first.

Maslow posed the enlightened human who is concerned about human relations in the common acts and things of our social lives as an ideal to which we can all strive to become. Humans are after all social-creatures who live inter-dependently with billions of simultaneously interacting humans world wide. It is essential that Maslow addresses this 'existance' element missing from much of psychology. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Douglas Jack (talk • contribs) 17:16, 22 March 2010 (UTC)