Maslow’s hierarchy of needs is only followed if the person is free. Someone has rightly said, True wealth is freedom. But many a times we witness situations of helplessness. What if the person is not free? Or what impact does a particular instance have in your life, depends on the level of penetration of that event.
This has been given in by the inverted pyramid. The deeper is goes, the more disruptive it can become. It works exactly like the Maslow’s Hierarchy. The levels of contributors is just the opposite, decreases as we go down, the level of restriction of freedom increases as we do south. This is not an empirical model, but a theoretical model, created out of imagination. Might be true to its core, might be just another HR joke. It depends on how you perceive it.
The prime most thing is Upbringing. Only a few people are able to contribute to this region and their actions can have profound impact on the psyche and thought process of the person. It ensures everything to ground zero. The theory of ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’ works wonderfully well in this context. For more theory related to the concept, Google!
After the basic level, comes the subconscious needs. Whatever your subconscious really requires for functioning, must be met. If these needs are not met, the whole pyramid gets disturbed. Only the upbringing can bring the sanity back to the person. Imagine a third degree torture. You don’t allow a person to sleep, would make an impact on this level. The psychological needs are also similar, but this is the quadrant where your freedom is restricted.
If your upbringing and sub-conscious needs are met, you proceed to the next level, where your ethics and values come into the arena. So, the corollary is, if the levels in the south are not met, you might be willing to sacrifice on your values and ethics, just to ensure that those needs are met. Ethics and values are the things which are formed with repeated set of experiences, doing the things in one way, leads to a better situation for the individual on a mental level. Everything in zone is transactional, and is judged by the face value of events.
The next level is of association. Man has always been a social animal. Even with restricted access (a.k.a. limited connectivity), he would still want to be a part of the group. That’s why we have groups in prisons. The need for association is stronger than anything else. Stronger than the physiological needs too. We can live in a tent in a forest, go camping under the night sky, be without food, have our own version of “Man v/s Wild”, but you would still to prefer have some association. A religion, a caste, a creed, a nationality, etc. are all basic associative parameters that a human being readily agrees to, without much questioning.
The final level before freedom is the forced needs that you are forced to do that. Nothing explains it better than a student rushing for a morning class without breakfast. It surpasses everything Maslow has talked about, because it’s forced. You need to have a bare minimum attendance, failing which you will not be allowed to appear in the exam, clear your graduation and get a qualifying degree.
Are you convinced? Point the bricks at this theory. I am game. Tell me the flaws, the best answer gets a treat.
virhr 