The interesting triangle (week 3 blog)

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a very interesting subject to study. It is what I found most interesting in last class. Basically, Maslow mapped out human needs by first having the most basic needs at the beginning and the more "complex" needs towards the end. Maslow's concept is usually portrayed in a pyramid form. (As shown at the bottom right.) Although, it is interesting to know that Maslow never used a pyramid of any form when creating these ideas.

http://convene.com/wp-content/uploads/MaslowsHiearchyofNeeds.png

          Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs has 5 categories, is begins with basic necessities of survival at the bottom, for example; water, food, shelter, sleep etc.. It continues with safety, for example; a person's families physical safety, physical self safety and financial safety. Maslow's next category is belonging. One a person has stability in their life and does not have to worry about basic necessities the next feel the need to belong. This can include but not be limited to; friendships and family. Maslow continues with his research and comes up with esteem as his fourth human necessity. After a person does not have to worry about basic necessities for survival, they have personal and financial safety and they have a sense of belonging they feel the need to be respected by others. After reaching this stage a person will want to be accepted by other people. They will have self- esteem. Lastly, Maslow came up with his final human need, Self- actualization. It is extremely rare, says Maslow and many of the people the study his works, for an individual to reach this stage. What Maslow is saying here is, once a person knows what they can become and what they could do in life, nothing will stop them from achieving that goal. Although one can only achieve this by first working through and mastering the previous four stages.
          If I could personally ask Maslow a question it would be: Can an individual achieve the last phase of needs, self- actualization, without having the work through and master the first four? This is something I would like to know his opinion about because, for instance, if an individual is born into a wealthy family and does not need to worry about the first four phases of needs, like shelter and security, could they go right onto the last, self-actualization phase? I believe Maslow's answer to this would be no because they have not mastered the previous phases.
          Maslow is an interesting man with many interesting ideas. In the future I wish to study his more.