Hera are my 17 needs, starting with most urgent and basic down to exciting and desired, with associated with them long term natural and human resources requirements.
Needs
- Right temperature and other physical conditions - climate stability;
- Breathing - clean good air, properly balanced in oxygen and other gases;
- Safety - absence of violence from other beings and natural forces, if needed protection of body and essential property, shelter, freedom of movement and actions;
- Sleep - quiet time and suitable environment to rest;
- Water and energy - clean water and fresh plant food (fruit, seeds, etc.)
- Health - normal homeostasis, help in emergencies, preventive care;
- Orgasm.
- Friendship! Trusting and loving relationships. Good people around. Group mind and drive.
- Intimacy. A life partner, love with passion.
- Knowledge - access to information (internet), active scientific community;
- Respect - of other members of the society and by them, acknowledgement;
- Art - capability to create something.
- Individuals - interaction with unique people in cultures that support and promote great personalities, and that are oriented towards knowledge, ethics, aesthetics, mutual acceptance and care, self-regulation and sustainability.
- Education - lifelong access to teaching resources for mental improvement;
- Capital - access to sufficient financial assets to realize business or organizational ideas and innovations;
- Progress - development of human societies towards its best generated ideals.
- Discovery - new: understanding, feelings, abilities...
As you can see, I have modified and extended Maslow's hierarchy of needs, from basic physiological and safety, to belonging and love, social or esteem, and finally, self-actualization, because I could not quite match it to myself.
Right now I am back to school (my #14) and consider myself to be fortunate enough to have for at least a while most of my needs more or less satisfied. I also hope that major human societies move into right direction, and I expect to learn many exciting new things during my lifetime.
In simple terms, my basic needs now are:
- To pay for (usually): home, water, electricity, gas, internet, cell phone, transportation, groceries, hygiene, health care, art supply, college, things, events, business opportunities;
- Free and rewording (must be): friends, a lover, social gatherings, occupation, and activism.
Max-Neef's fundamental human needs:
- subsistence
- protection
- affection
- understanding
- participation
- leisure
- creation
- identity
- freedom
I do need all of them :)
Satisfiers (ways of meeting needs):
- Violators: claim to be satisfying needs, yet in fact make it more difficult to satisfy a need. E.g. drinking a soda advertised to quench your thirst, but the ingredients cause you to urinate more, leaving you less hydrated on net.
- Pseudo Satisfiers: claim to be satisfying a need, yet in fact have little to no effect on really meeting such a need. For example, status symbols may help identify one’s self initially, but there is always the potential to get absorbed in them and forget who you are without them.
- Inhibiting Satisfiers: those which over-satisfy a given need, which in turn seriously inhibits the possibility of satisfaction of other needs. Mostly originating in deep-rooted customs, habits and rituals. For example, an overprotective family stifles identity, freedom, understanding, and affection.
- Singular Satisfiers: satisfy one particular need only. These are neutral in regard to the satisfaction of other needs. They are usually institutionalized by voluntary, private sector, or government programs. For example, food/housing volunteer programs aid in satisfying subsistence for less fortunate people.
- Synergistic Satisfiers: satisfy a given need, while simultaneously contributing to the satisfaction of other needs. These are anti-authoritarian and represent a reversal of predominant values of competition and greed. For example, breast feeding gives a child subsistence, and aids in the development in protection, affection, and identity.
I made multiple mistakes in my life, trying to satisfy my needs synergistically, in a very risky ways that turned to be wrong as I see it now: I relied too strongly on a partner for several things at once, neglecting many other needs like safety, sleep, health, orgasm, friendship, even intimacy, community respect, and even art to some extend! Therefore I need to change myself.
What are your needs?
Are you content?
