Arjun Khemani

Being the species we are, it’s not really easily grasped by us that all our actions are driven through the motivations of our basic needs. It’s a very complex system of motivation and reward, and includes a lot of deep dendritic paths but they all meet at the main node of the few basic things we really need as a human genus.

In simple terms, all action is the effect of the motivating factor of our basic needs. But of course they (our actions) come in various forms that are not necessarily acknowledged by us and we don’t realize that everything is really simple.

There’s a famous theory initiated by Abraham Maslow in 1943 which has been named “Maslow’s hierarchy of needs“. It suggests the basic needs that cause for human motivation and which subsequently add an effect to our actions.

The human needs proposed in the theory are depicted above as a pyramid, with the most important, foundational needs being at the base of the pyramid and then descending with lower significance as we go up the pyramid.

It really turns out that all we do is a result of our “needs” motivation. According to Maslow, first we need some physiological stuff like food, sleep, and air to breathe. Then we look for security; shelter and physical and economic safety. Then we get in to the emotional level needing love and seeking to belong. Just when we start to belong somewhere, we wish to stand out, and feel respected and accomplished. Lastly, when we have attained all our way up the needs of the pyramid we reach the stage of self-actualization, having achieved our entire potential. You may call it divinity, nirvana or something like that and may reach it along some other way, but this is where you’ve attained your destiny, simply put.

So all these motivations drive us to act and our outcomes depend on them. Because basically these needs are required for human survival. What we can do then is by being smart, use our needs to our advantage by understanding them better and then producing results. Because well, everyone needs them, and so might as well achieve those needs in a manner that benefits us in today’s fast-pacing world.