How many people ask themselves this question from time to time? A person always wants something. And the more he achieves, the larger his needs become. And often even the joy of what has been received is clouded by regret for what does not yet exist.
Pyramid of needs
A person comes into this world, and he is seized by desires: the simplest, ensuring the vital activity of the organism. Need for food, warmth, sleep. Further, according to psychologists, the child strives for what he does not yet have: to be like an adult, learn to walk, communicate, perform some social duties. Moreover, they appear in a certain sequence, as they grow older.
In psychology, this phenomenon was described by A. Maslow and called the "Pyramid of human needs." According to this theory, the very first in a person should be satisfied those very vital needs, thanks to which he does not feel hunger, thirst, fatigue.
The second step of the pyramid is the need for security and protection. It is thanks to her that someone wants to acquire a strong home, and someone successfully marries in order to find a defender. The method usually depends on the perception of security.
Next comes the desire to belong to a group, which is very clearly manifested in adolescents. It is the need for belonging, the feeling of being part of something larger. It is she who makes a person follow the rules put forward by this or that social cell.
Then there is a need for respect and recognition. A person strives to take a leading position in any niche so that his merits are appreciated by the society to which he considers himself.
And the top of the pyramid is the desire for self-actualization, that is, the realization of one's potential. Here, it is no longer the struggle for a place in the sun that becomes the cause of a person's activity, but his desire to do what he has inclination. It is believed that this is why there are cases in history when emperors became vegetable growers, and successful businessmen suddenly left as hermits in the forests.
Features of the implementation of needs
According to this theory, a person feels happiness and peace only when all categories of needs are satisfied. And the main condition for further progress towards higher desires is the continuous satisfaction of the previous ones. Simply put, even a keen desire for security is dulled when a person is hungry, and the desire for self-actualization is not able to arise in a person who has become an outcast in his environment.
However, even people who have reached a certain weight in society, respected and influential, sometimes feel empty and unhappy: the top has not been reached, they have not realized themselves.
The conclusion is that it is very difficult to satisfy all levels of needs at once. But the desire for this is inherent in human nature, so he does not stop making attempts, and only sometimes he has the feeling that he always wants something that does not exist.
