Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs -- at the base level we have physiological, then safety, love/belonging, esteem and finally, self actualization. This pyramid represents the structure with which an individual follows whilst proceeding through life. But what if we could adapt this structure to represent the way humans as a whole proceed through history? A sort of Hierarchy of Priorities.
I dawned on this idea of the path humanity has followed throughout history in determining the priority of the era and its resemblance to Maslow's hierarchy, while reading a book my good friend recommended to me called Status Anxiety. Status Anxiety details human's capacity to seek status in this life and the burden we bear mentally in trying to obtain it. In the book, there is a lengthy section detailing the history of consumerism and its contribution to our status anxiety. This is where it hit me.
In my generation here in America, there is a real ideological pull-away from consumerism. To be honest, there is a general disdain for it. I started to wonder why. But then I realized, once I dawned on this idea of hierarchical priorities, that there was a time and place for consumerism. In fact, in some parts of the world and for some people in various stages of humanity, there's still a place for it. Here's what I mean. In my view, similarly to the hierarchy of needs, humans too have priorities that we aim to satisfy as collective groups before we can move onto the next step, and they follow certain patterns that are very telling about our nature. Let's go back in time and gain some more clarity.
1. Early in human history, shortly after we obtained modern consciousness/awareness, we were focused almost entirely on survival. We were focused on meeting our basic needs such as finding food, water, shelter, and staying alive from one night to another (physiological). That's why homosapians came together to form collectives, because it was easier to obtain these things and achieve safety and survival. We developed a system of classes - roles in this new collective. And there was a view from year to year, decade to decade that nothing really improves all that much, but at least we're safe. Maybe one year the harvest isn't all that good, and maybe one year there's a famine or pestilence. But the base priority was survival.
2. Then, after a long period of "dark ages" we stumbled upon the renaissance. Once this Medieval period had ended and the age of romanticism arrived, we shifted our priority to a synonymous version of love/belonging. It was the age of the Artisan. People finding belonging by engaging in what they loved. Art, music, science, literature, crafts.
But the big switch happened around the time of the industrial revolution, technological and economic progress became the new norm. We developed a viewpoint of things getting better from year to year as quality of life soared. Harvests grew, quality of life improved. Medicine was enhanced. And consumption began. As we had solidly met our basic needs in life, we could shift our priority to improving our material quality of life. This is where consumption began. The newest gadget; a device to cool your home. A device to heat it. A machine to wash your clothes for you. A machine to dry them quickly too. A widget that would peel your oranges and squeeze your lemons. People were satiating the desire for esteem in the form of material acquisition. How easy could we make our lives? That was the goal. And how good, how flashy, and how quantifiable could we become while living our newly improved lives? It was the priority.
3. Now, arriving in modern America 2018, we can analyze our current priority in this hierarchy since we've established that historically, we've made our way through the first 4 layers. MOST of us have everything we've ever wanted or needed. If you need money, there's access to it. Food? Don't worry about it. Any gadget to simplify your life? Yes. A home, a job, a relationship, material possession, an education, a future, a group to identify with. So, people are searching for a new purpose. Something more meaningful; bigger than themselves. And they're rejecting the notion that they derive esteem from material possession. Today is the age of "alternative". Alternative diets. Alternative medicine. Alternative societal norms. Alternative energy. Alternatives to traditional education, exercise, beliefs, etc. People are searching for ways of establishing their happiness based on non material possession, trying to gain esteem and understanding about their place in the world from alternative sources People are self actualizing. They're solving world problems because most of their problems are either too complex to solve, or too minimal to prioritize. If they are focusing on themselves, they're doing so in a way that attaches themselves to a bigger picture. They're clinging to ideology. Some to drugs and underground scenes. They're lashing out at the old systems. Trying to be the pioneers of a post modernism of their choice. They're doing things differently.
We're turning out outlook inwards, towards our self and to the world. And it's made possible because the course of our history has directed us to this opportunity.
In Summary:
Most of us grew up "with" which is why many in our generation are able to identify with stage 3. But we see examples still of those that grew up "without" that are focused on gaining wealth, status, and possession; #2. They simply aren't ready or at the progressional mark to be focused on #3. We see examples of this in the developed world, ie: new entrants to material possession who's priority is consuming - Rap and celebrity lifestyles exemplify this concept.
But in fact we can test this theory with the developing world as well. China is the perfect example. The mass majority of Chinese are still in stage 2. The average Chinese citizen is deep in consumption. The middle class is growing and the economy is heavily focused on material possession. Because that's where they exist now in the hierarchy of priorities. They took longer to make it to this point, of free market economy, individual freedom, and relative peace.
So, when we discuss the fact that developing nations like China and India aren't prioritizing greenhouse emissions like we are in America, or how they're so focused on achieving wealth and material possession, we need to remember that they're at a stage below us in this hierarchy. Their priorities are different. For now. And we can apply this understanding to our own disdain of consumerism and materialism. Instead of exercising vengeful, malice driven ideology against these concepts, let's instead obtain the knowledge and understanding that there was once a time and place for it. And now we are moving on, organically and naturally, to a more aware future. Let's focus on that.
I dawned on this idea of the path humanity has followed throughout history in determining the priority of the era and its resemblance to Maslow's hierarchy, while reading a book my good friend recommended to me called Status Anxiety. Status Anxiety details human's capacity to seek status in this life and the burden we bear mentally in trying to obtain it. In the book, there is a lengthy section detailing the history of consumerism and its contribution to our status anxiety. This is where it hit me.
In my generation here in America, there is a real ideological pull-away from consumerism. To be honest, there is a general disdain for it. I started to wonder why. But then I realized, once I dawned on this idea of hierarchical priorities, that there was a time and place for consumerism. In fact, in some parts of the world and for some people in various stages of humanity, there's still a place for it. Here's what I mean. In my view, similarly to the hierarchy of needs, humans too have priorities that we aim to satisfy as collective groups before we can move onto the next step, and they follow certain patterns that are very telling about our nature. Let's go back in time and gain some more clarity.
1. Early in human history, shortly after we obtained modern consciousness/awareness, we were focused almost entirely on survival. We were focused on meeting our basic needs such as finding food, water, shelter, and staying alive from one night to another (physiological). That's why homosapians came together to form collectives, because it was easier to obtain these things and achieve safety and survival. We developed a system of classes - roles in this new collective. And there was a view from year to year, decade to decade that nothing really improves all that much, but at least we're safe. Maybe one year the harvest isn't all that good, and maybe one year there's a famine or pestilence. But the base priority was survival.
2. Then, after a long period of "dark ages" we stumbled upon the renaissance. Once this Medieval period had ended and the age of romanticism arrived, we shifted our priority to a synonymous version of love/belonging. It was the age of the Artisan. People finding belonging by engaging in what they loved. Art, music, science, literature, crafts.
But the big switch happened around the time of the industrial revolution, technological and economic progress became the new norm. We developed a viewpoint of things getting better from year to year as quality of life soared. Harvests grew, quality of life improved. Medicine was enhanced. And consumption began. As we had solidly met our basic needs in life, we could shift our priority to improving our material quality of life. This is where consumption began. The newest gadget; a device to cool your home. A device to heat it. A machine to wash your clothes for you. A machine to dry them quickly too. A widget that would peel your oranges and squeeze your lemons. People were satiating the desire for esteem in the form of material acquisition. How easy could we make our lives? That was the goal. And how good, how flashy, and how quantifiable could we become while living our newly improved lives? It was the priority.
3. Now, arriving in modern America 2018, we can analyze our current priority in this hierarchy since we've established that historically, we've made our way through the first 4 layers. MOST of us have everything we've ever wanted or needed. If you need money, there's access to it. Food? Don't worry about it. Any gadget to simplify your life? Yes. A home, a job, a relationship, material possession, an education, a future, a group to identify with. So, people are searching for a new purpose. Something more meaningful; bigger than themselves. And they're rejecting the notion that they derive esteem from material possession. Today is the age of "alternative". Alternative diets. Alternative medicine. Alternative societal norms. Alternative energy. Alternatives to traditional education, exercise, beliefs, etc. People are searching for ways of establishing their happiness based on non material possession, trying to gain esteem and understanding about their place in the world from alternative sources People are self actualizing. They're solving world problems because most of their problems are either too complex to solve, or too minimal to prioritize. If they are focusing on themselves, they're doing so in a way that attaches themselves to a bigger picture. They're clinging to ideology. Some to drugs and underground scenes. They're lashing out at the old systems. Trying to be the pioneers of a post modernism of their choice. They're doing things differently.
We're turning out outlook inwards, towards our self and to the world. And it's made possible because the course of our history has directed us to this opportunity.
In Summary:
Most of us grew up "with" which is why many in our generation are able to identify with stage 3. But we see examples still of those that grew up "without" that are focused on gaining wealth, status, and possession; #2. They simply aren't ready or at the progressional mark to be focused on #3. We see examples of this in the developed world, ie: new entrants to material possession who's priority is consuming - Rap and celebrity lifestyles exemplify this concept.
But in fact we can test this theory with the developing world as well. China is the perfect example. The mass majority of Chinese are still in stage 2. The average Chinese citizen is deep in consumption. The middle class is growing and the economy is heavily focused on material possession. Because that's where they exist now in the hierarchy of priorities. They took longer to make it to this point, of free market economy, individual freedom, and relative peace.
So, when we discuss the fact that developing nations like China and India aren't prioritizing greenhouse emissions like we are in America, or how they're so focused on achieving wealth and material possession, we need to remember that they're at a stage below us in this hierarchy. Their priorities are different. For now. And we can apply this understanding to our own disdain of consumerism and materialism. Instead of exercising vengeful, malice driven ideology against these concepts, let's instead obtain the knowledge and understanding that there was once a time and place for it. And now we are moving on, organically and naturally, to a more aware future. Let's focus on that.
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