NEEDS, WANTS and DESIRES - # 7 A Lifecycle Approach

One of the most difficult problems facing social science is the division between "humanity" as a species and the human as an "individual". For Anthropologists this is even more difficult, since the anthropologist works in both dimension at the sametime, and further at different time periods within the event at the same time. This is the true essence of a "wholists approach."

The Needs, Wants, and Desires approach to human behavior reveals both human weaknesses and human power. Through the development of a complex coding system, language, humans are able to interact with one another on a meta-behavioral way. That is, human's are capable of framing actual events into a meta-code (language) that can be exchanged and shared with another human and human groups on multiple level -- emotional, consequential, mental and informational. And these individuals and groups may receive the message on different levels from that of the reporter.

It is this last ability that is both a positive and a negative in human affairs. It is the zone where differences in perception and evaluation between sender/reporter and receiver/responder can have both an affect and effect on the human interactions that follow the event.

Emotion sharing is the use of words and actions to define the "meaning" of an event experienced either by the individual witness/participant to the event or by repeating (describing) the emotional experience as reported to the speaker.  

The consequential question and answers are: Did the individual or group experiencing the event NEED the subject of the events to survive the event?  This may be reported by an informant or be witnessed by an observer.

If remembered, the event and response at stored and available for recall in similar situations. The ability to recall, creates a historic path and Mental image of the cause and effect relationships between the elements of the situation.

And finally, the remembered event, witnessed or reported, add to the informational experience available to the individual (individual learning) and to the collective experience of the group and thereby "re-lived" by the members in their own individual way.

The importance of the event to the individual(s) and to the group(s) is a function of the situational context and temporal duration of the event as well as the source of the information. It is the "importance" that is at the core of distinction between a Need, a Want, and a Desire.

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The NEED is a defined as the presents or absence, real or imagined, of a required element for the successful or tragic outcome of an event required to maintain a status quo. Oxygen,water, food are examples of such elements.

The WANT is defined as a Choice or the Freedom to chose between alternative ways to meeting and achieving or fulling a NEED requirement. Free Oxygen from the environment or a tank of oxygen delivered through a ventilation system. Liquid potable water, fruit juice, milk, etc. any of these or similar forms could fulfill this NEED in sufficient quantities, etc.

The DESIRE is defined as a Preferred choice of a solution to a NEED that overrides or takes precedence over other suitable satisfaction of a NEED. A DESIRE is an emotional response to a situation where given the Freedom to chose a solution, the individual or group will favor one choice over all other equally satisfactory solutions to the problem caused by the NEED.

At this point, the Desired solution can become the preferred solution or the only acceptable solution. That is a NEED in itself.

 It is NEEDS which drive individuals into forming groups and its is choice that creates groups that divide individuals and groups. 

This is the basis of what social and biological scientist describe as the life cycle of an event, an individual, or a group of individuals. It is the cycle that begins with a NEED moves on to a differentiation of Solutions to a Preference of Solution that becomes a New NEED. Taboos, for example, such as foods, places, events, may have no objective impact on the success of an individual or group but are not considered as Choices because they don't fit the personal or cultural definition of a solution to a NEED.

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DESIRES and NEEDS are linked and the drivers of evolution in a sentient species. When a Desire emerges in one generation or situation, the successful resolution can become a NEED for the next generation or next similar situation. NEEDS and DESIRES evolve though CHOICES. CHOICES appear when alternative solutions exist or are found and are available to specific NEEDS.  

The English term for "Choice", is the Right to pick or create alternative solutions, to a NEED.

The Social psychologist, Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper "A Theory of Motivation". published in the journal Psychological Review, and its development gives us an insight into the dynamics of human of human development and how it relates to social and cultural development. This is the subject of the next installment of NEEDS, WANTS and DESIRES.

NEEDS, WANTS AND DESIRES # 6 The Hierarchy of Needs

The Underlying Premise of human life -- is a RIGHT TO LIFE that begins at birth. The Right to life does not guarantee a life, but it does define the existence of potential independence for a mature self aware human being. Birth requires Conception which in turn depends upon satisfying the NEEDS a fertile male and a fertile female human being to start the process of conception. 

The theory behind the organization of Needs, Wants and Desires is based on the life-cycle of the organism or superorganism under study. The life cycle of any organism consists of the definition and identification of "a psychological self".  The "self" is the physical identity of the individual with the capacity to satisfy its own physical "needs". It is the responsibility of the parents to satisfy those needs until such time as the infant is old enough and developed enough to perform these functions for her/himself.

The second stage in development is the formation of the "social self," where one's identity is defined in part by the choices one can and does make to meet those needs. These are determined by the physical and social environments that presents the individual with viable choices. The social order defines the range and priority choices available. The selection of different alternative ends to the choice situation  manifest themselves as individual "wants". Some of these choices are dictated by the status/role the individual holds within the group while others by one's unique environment in time and space.

The third stage in development is the formation of individual's definition of self within the social group. These take the form of "desires". Desires are choices defined as personal needs that produce "preferential choices" . These "desires" can be defined in general using Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. As one's social self becomes defined, one's "choices" slowly emerge as "preferences" and then as "status" symbols and eventually as "status needs". A "status-need" is a social or cultural symbol created by the group or society. These become assumed by society as the requirements for obtaining and hold a position or status in the community.

While operating on an individual level, these characteristics take on a "social" significance among humans when the concepts of biological/social family and generational inheritance become "cultural norms." Here the cultural norms can be interpreted as the basis for the Maslowian concept of the hierarchy of "needs". 

Satisfaction of basic needs is how an individual acquires the resources that enable it to survive and grow in a social position. As the individual grows he/she learns how to replicate goal oriented behaviors critical to his/her survival. They begin to engage in actions to obtain the resources they have learned are necessary to achieve their goals. In this process, the society also grows over time most often generationally.

Self – is the story of one’s emergence as a human being and involves one’s own experiences from birth to “age of responsibility”. This changes with time. And it changes with the interaction between the elements of  physical growth: sexual awakening, social independence and responsibility, and cultural training and integration into society.  

If the time spent or required to achieve physical or sexual maturity, for example, increases, this can effect the ability to chose or change social roles. This in turn limits the range of cultural roles available to the Self.  That is, on average, as life becomes more complex, one must spend more time in the process of developing a sense of self. Yet, on another level, as the society and the culture becomes more complex and specialized, the time between birth and the choice of career also increases. This differential may be overcome by the individual's inheritance at the generational level. 

Career – is the period when the individual commits to an active role in the society. This active role involves learning and practicing role specific behaviors, or one's status in society. The behaviors and role maybe Self- generated or situationally Socially generated. In essence, this stage of development is a mixture of one’s personal requirements (NEEDS) and society’s ability to address the range of WANTS that “most” of the society shares by to providing its individuals with choices to satisfy personal NEEDS. 

Life – is the period when the individual has obtained his/her maximum power within society and their position of independence in the world. It is that point when the individual loses the powers (physical, social, and cultural) to fulfill all of his/her "WANTS" and instead makes the choice to concentrates on his/her "DESIRES". This is the stage when one chooses from among their personal WANTS and defines their priority. High priority "wants" turn into "desires". In the personal and communal realems, "desires" become priority "choices" or "needs".

On the social level, this is the breaking point between an individual's DESIRES and the historic WANTS and NEEDS of Society. That is, the next generation inherits the current choices that their parents and society, and assume these represent inherited RIGHTS defining their DESIRED choice. 

There is a conflict within the socio-cultural system when the DESIRED Choice established by the past generation are in conflict with the “NEEDED” choice claimed by a successor generation.

This is the Cultural problem facing the community. The ability to choose, whether it be physical, environmental, or social becomes the evolutionary engine of the individual human and the social human advancement. As generations diverse based on their own definitions of NEEDS and the ability of Society to fill those NEEDS with a RIGHT to Choose, Choices transform into DESIRES and DESIRES into NEEDS.

Solving this problem is the basis of social and political debate, especially in more complex societies. It is a debate over whether the community will select the 'best' prepared candidate for the job or the best candidate from the "best" sector of the community. The former leads to democracy, while the latter can lead to a class or caste based socio-cultural system.