Human Needs and Relationships....Part 1

Let's admit it. All of us as adult humans have needs, wants and desires. At first, they have and will be at a basic sustenance level of food, shelter and clothing, and once that's done, it moves to many different elevations above. Also, it always starts with material things like money, car, house, job etc., then kids (and the heavy price tag that comes with them) etc. Think of it as the "taking" phase. At some point of life, when many hairs have been "grayed-and-dyed" after, we hopefully evolve to higher-order thinking like social work, helping/caring for others or spiritual quest etc. - basically, chucking the hugely inflated and egoistic "me and only me" out and replacing it with a big picture view of "what i can do for others", "how i can be useful to Mother Earth" line of thought process. This would be the "giving" or "pay-back" phase. Sorry, life doesn't offer any free lunch, anytime, anywhere.

Well, you might be shocked to know if I came up with the above idea. I admit it's kinda very tempting to me too because it sounds so profoundly knowledgeable and immensely deep. But, unfortunately, every student of Marketing/Psychology would be familiar with this old, but fundamental Maslow's "Hierarchy of Needs", so can't get away with this one. For those of you who decided to study atoms, light waves and 'gooey' body parts in school instead, the foll. pyramid explains it all-

This much is quite obvious and it's an open secret that Maslow's is the most-abused, beaten-to-death theories out there. So, what is new here? The psycho-social angle. Not much has been talked about it, as far as I know.

There is definitely a developmental curve pattern, directly related to age as you go up the ladder. With me so far?

Now, let's dive into relationships. Every single human being has a one-to-many relationship with others around him/her - be it family, friends, co-workers, neighbors and the rest of the general public. From cradle to grave, we have to be connected to others, whether we wish to be or not. You can love it or hate it, but gotta put up with it. Ok, that line is all mine - not great but it's the best one i could come up with right now :-) And, not all of us can have perfect relationships with everyone, it's plainly impossible. But, we genuinely try to have as many good ones and less of bad ones, at least to keep our sanity in tact. Right?

Now, finally getting to the connection. And, for that you have to wait for Part 2.

Minding the language...

So, the ability to use language as a mode of communication is one of the main differentiating factor between us and the rest of our primate friends. It gives us that crucial "one-up" to dominate the earthly scene, making us feel all superior. Of course, we easily gloss over the fact that some of us can share so many other traits with the animal kingdom - don't we have enough samples of sly foxes, wise owls, slimy weasels, scared chickens, sharp eagles, vain peacocks etc all around us? Makes one raise an important, poignant question: are we so different after all? Me thinks nah, not so much. More on this topic, it's also fascinating that there are around 3000-6000 languages spoken by us humans around the world (as per our friend "Wise Wiki"). In India, even if you're linguistically-challenged like me, there should be an average of at least two languages acquired over a life time by each person (this is my own extrapolation, so please don't ana...

Human Needs and Relationships......Part 2

continued from part 1..... Let's start from the bottom of Maslow's pyramid, which is Physiological & Safety needs . These are our basic survival ones like eating, breathing, clothing and, living under a decent roof. The human mind will come to grinding stop if these are not met, and you'll be unable to even think about the next level of needs. Don't believe me? Try dieting/fasting for a day, and you'll be amazed how your fat brain (please, it's a compliment) which used to process complicated thoughts like the greenhouse effect, looming elections, world economy etc. till the day before, can obsessively think of only one thing and nothing else now, which would be the magical, four-letter manna - FOOD. Anyways, these needs would probably come from the closest relationship of all, i.e. parents or caregivers. And, from an evolution point of view, would be our Infant/Childhood stage. Next, is the Love/Belonging needs, which deals with our sense of ...

You and your compass....

Let's talk about what each and every one of us have within ourselves. That deep, down voice that tells us strongly what to do, not to do, what we ought to do but choose not to and regret later on with a "I-told-me-so", things that we wish to do but dare not try in our lifetime....you get the drift. Yes, it is that all-pervading, metaphorical inner compass, or the SatNavs of our lives that I'm getting into. Young adults think they have an independent mind, and do and act that way. In reality, though, in most of the cases, it's not even of their own choice, but out of peer pressure. Which interestingly, brings a point- whose collective, mob voice is it then? If everyone is busy copying someone else doing the same, then who the heck started the fire? No clue, but let's assume for sanity's sake that some life form starts a trend which gets viral, bacterial, whatever. And, suddenly there's a strong urge that compels every youngster to do it ...

C'est La Vie;That's life

Search This Blog