Degrees and States of Satisfaction and Dissatisfaction - I hypothesize that every variable on Maslojw’s chart 1) can exist to a degree, with maximums and minimums, 2) from a negative side, to a positive side. This understanding makes it seem like there is a mathematical expression for these factors. It is true, there is. In fact the mathematics used in the game Sims harnesses the Maslowian doctrine. In this article I will review how this is so, but note that: these expressions may have already been put together in better formula than introduced here.
Intentionality -- Each factor on Maslow's hierarchy has intentionality directly linked into its Nature. For example if I intend to live without shelter, then I am intending to be out of sort with one of Maslow’s presented “needs.” Another simple example is if I choose to be a vegetarian I am choosing a kind of method by which I WILL select my ends of hunger.
1) THE PRIMARY LEVEL - At this level we see that basic impulses in Mankind towards ends which either satisfy, dis-satify, or are of a neutral quality, in casual relation. These are grounded in our biology. Example: The stomach objectively exists and it is required to satisfy hunger (a whole body process) through digestion. Each objective biological function has an evolutionary history, but I will not touch on that subject in this article.
Hunger precipitates a satisfaction response. However, it’s not that simple. In order to satisfy hunger, one must have motility, know where edibles are, collect edibles, prepare them, and then go through the whole process of ingestion and digestion. There is a physiological and biological basis for this drive, hunger; and there is an external source of satisfaction primarily coming from modern economic production. Like all other kinds of biological variables, these can be satisfied or lack satisfaction. In the first case causing satisfaction in the second causing greater hunger, starvation and ultimately without satisfaction, death. I will treat thirst the same way as hunger and so I will not elaborate on that factor here.
Air Quality -- Due to the modern world's carbon emissions, air quality is certainly a factor that can be manipulated for the collective good. How? Through the use of methods that increase good air quality, lower pollution, we can all breathe in “positive” air, clean air.
Shelter -- The conditions of the environment make it so that surviving is easier with a constructed home. Most animals do not construct their homes, but there are a few instances where sheltering is part of another species basic nature. As long as there are harsh conditions in the environment there will need to be some comfortable settings built for people to live within.
2) Safety needs -- Safety needs are things which exist in higher forms than they do in the wild. Gathering herbs for yourself, turns into gathering herbs for a corporation. The company you work for, some kind farming institution, then sells and profits off that work. Employment therefore is a given need within any community that is working together to make survival and thriving possible. *Although shelter might be considered a safety need, Maslow classifies shelter as a more fundamental need.
Property (and rights to it) -- Under the constitution, a philosophy of the 18th century colonists, the U.S. has property rights and laws. Democratic governance is made to demarcate personal and public property, and the modern capitalist economy exists to allow free marketing and buying of resources. Money itself may be seen as a property, and we can undergo such disputes in the courthouses (where justice is actualized) to partition the rights one has to some kind of money or personal assets of another. In other situations, rights to protect property are given in the "right to bare arms". The right to hold or bare a gun is the same as the right to protect your property from unlawful theft.
3) Love and Belonging -- Maslow meant for all of his factors to have some realism to them, in that they realistically represent human biology; treating each on how it might influence human psychology. Sometimes, social relations in the world are the only way people are capable of surviving. The whole of our modern economy is based on how we interact together in both observable and unseen ways. In a more primitive society, relations need to be made, just as much as one needs to drink water, for without interactions between individuals there can be the break-down of one’s “biology," and well as "psychology".
Socialization precipitates a satisfaction response. However, it’s not that simple. In order to satisfy one’s social needs, there need to be people or animals present in the environment that offer suitable and desirable relationship opportunities. Bonding positively, with relations being happy (mood), innocuous (lack of abuse), and have other features like shared intentions, shared feelings of affection (communicated through speech and touch). Negative relationships are those relations that have discontent, dislike to hatred. Negative bonds do not form necessarily from “sadness” as sympathy and compassion can relate back to a person experiencing the negative feelings. Other negative feelings such as “anger”, “boredom”, and “discontent”, though are more prone to cause social aversions and negative social “bonding”. Family members are said to be a set state of bonding, either negatively or positively, whereas people that know each other outside of the family are more likely to experience “social repulsions” (as opposed to BONDs).
“Romantic Involvements” -- One flaw of Maslow’s hierarchy is that it places reproduction below socializations. I would even say that it should be a level of its own, for positive social bonding is a lower form of “mutual love” in a relationship than that of “romantic love”.
4) Esteem -- Right after the social needs comes the esteem needs. Of course anyone could think that without socialization there is no esteem; so they are dependent. People that receive compliments for their achievements are earning double the esteem and are also earning popularity or social relations. Esteem sets us up for achieving the highest goal (according Maslow), self-actualization.
Education -- Learning is a constant, ongoing process. It is a process in which information is learnt, and subsequently applied. Some information gets lost, other information gets stored in long term memory(implicit memory), and is used in declarative and explicit memory. Implicit memories are learned subconscious activities that take place while we are doing a higher level task. For example, writing something requires knowledge of the alphabet. The later comes before the former, in the case of how we are educated to do these things. Writing is explicit to having memory of words and constructed sounds (these being implicit eventually in human education and development).
Liberty -- Freedom, may come in many forms. One form is the freedom to be whatever religion you chose to adhere to. This freedom comes as a basic right for some of us, while in less secular worlds this liberty may be lacking, or even non-existent. Forced religion, is prominent in some parts of the world still today.
5)Self-actualization -- It is a moment to moment thing, but if we are to think of ourselves as having a distant future, maybe in the ball-park of years time, we can set up ideal’s for ourselves, or future goals that we want to reach. Self actualization can come from having an idea in your mind of what you want, and then going about getting, actualizing the intention. Maslow meant something more superior than this, when he put this into his chart. He meant actualizing a “self” that has characteristics uniquely expressed.
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*Addiction -- One thing that Maslow doesn’t account for is that human beings are naturally given to become addicted, or to abusing substances. Addictions all have a biological basis, and may be seen as either harmful or helpful. An example would be drinking caffeine compared to injecting heroin. It can also be posited, that if the addiction doesn’t interfere with the rest of personal goal orientated behaviors, or the rationality of the person, then that addiction may not be irrational, i.e. harmful. Some addictions are harmful to self as well as to others, in which case we get a double negative (and it isn’t equal to a positive when added up) -- a lose-lose.
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