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“One of the oldest human needs is having someone wonder where you are when you
don't come home at night”.
Margaret Mead ~ 1901-1978, American Anthropologist
In Lecture 2 we explored ten steps of happiness, ten areas that when fulfilled to our satisfaction,
bring happiness naturally into our lives. What we are talking about in this session, are our human
NEEDS. Each of us is motivated by needs. Our most basic needs are inborn, having evolved
over tens of thousands of years. In the 1950’s a respected psychologist, Abraham Maslow
developed what has become known as the “Hierarchy of Needs”. His work is this area has
become the most respected and forms the basis of all analysis of human needs in the search for
happiness and fulfilment in life.
A simple diagram depicts the original hierarchy of needs:
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs states that we must satisfy each need in turn, starting with the basic
physiological needs of food, water, shelter, air to breath, sleep, clothing and sex at the base of
the pyramid, without which, the others above it would be meaningless. This first level deals with
the most obvious needs for survival itself.
Only when the lower order of needs of physical and emotional well-being are satisfied do we
become concerned with the higher order needs of influence and personal development.
If the things that satisfy our lower order needs are swept away, we are no longer concerned
about the maintenance of our higher order needs.