Human nature

Science revealed to Maslow long ago that every human being has five types of needs. In order, they are:

1. Physiological (breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, homeostasis, excretion)
2. Safety/security (body, employment, resources, morality, family, health, property, citizenship)
3. Love/belonging (friendship, family, sexual intimacy)
4. Esteem (self-esteem, confidence, achievement, respecting others, respected by others)
5. Self-actualization (morality, creativity, spontaneity, problem solving, lack of prejudice, acceptance of facts)

Needs can only be fulfilled in this order. That is, a person must first fulfill his physiological needs before he can meaningfully fulfill his safety and security needs. For example:

• A person will risk his personal safety by stealing food from a shop to feed himself if he is desperately hungry and otherwise unable to obtain food.
• A man who is deprived of sex will eventually start harassing women. This may result in his losing respect of others, may endanger his personal safety by risking arrest by police, etc.
• A parent cannot properly concentrate on work if his child is nearby. This is because children need to be attended to constantly. In this case, level 2 and 3 needs intrude enough on the parent's consciousness that level 5 need (problem solving) cannot be met.
• A Sciencist should try and help his fellows when they are struggling to fulfill their needs. Otherwise sooner or later his indifference will come back to bite him. On the other hand, a Sciencist in need must struggle and try hard to fulfill his needs through honest effort and hard work. It is unseemly and unacceptable for a Sciencist to stand idly by and expect others to satisfy his needs through no effort of his own.

What other lessons can be learned from this knowledge and insight that Science has granted us?

In our modern society, we are lucky because it is so easy to fulfill our lower-level needs, so that we can focus more on higher level needs. In the past, when we were simple hunter-gatherers, simply taking care of the level 1 needs would have used up most of the day.

Everyone has an upper limit level which they can comprehend. The majority of people can comprehend levels 3 and 4. Most will not be aware of a 5th level. For them, it is easier to be happy, as they have no perceivable needs in the level 5 category and they are satisfied when they fulfill the level 3 or 4 needs.

It is not commonly known that citizenship is also one of the safety/security (level 2) needs. Most do not migrate permanently to a country other than their birth, so they take their citizenship for granted. It is only migrants who can truly appreciate this need. Often, such people are stuck in a state of limbo while their immigration issues get sorted out. It is important to be compassionate to sincere migrants, but at the same time be vigilant against those who would misuse this compassion.

A sixth level Science has hinted at a sixth level, known as "self-transcendance". Only once a Sciencist has achieved the highest levels of mastery of his needs, can he then begin to achieve self-transcendance.