Needs
A tree is a system, an organic system, an organism. What keeps the system of the tree alive is that it takes what it needs to survive. What it needs. Water, carbon dioxide from the air and nutrients from the earth. Nothing more, nothing less. It also gives to other organisms. This way a balance is upheld. Both within the organism and within the ecosystem.
A human being is also an organic system with needs that has to be fulfilled in order for the system to stay alive. The needs of people are more complex than the needs of trees. We need water, oxygen from the air and nutrients but we also have psychological needs. Maslow's hierarchy of needs tells us that we have 1) physiological needs, 2) safety needs, 3) needs of love and belonging, 4) needs of esteem and 5) need of self-actualization. Obviously it is much harder for people to be able to uphold a balance. We are continously exploiting the planet and other organisms and we are responsible for the lack of balance on Earth. Why is that so?
I think the answer to the question can be found when another system is taken into consideration. That system is one that humans have created, not one that nature itself has given rise to. The biggest difference with this man-made system compared to natural ones is the fact that it does not just take what it needs and neither does it give anything back. In order for this system to survive it has to manipulate another system, the individual human being. In this way it works kind of like a huge parasite. This system has to make people confused about our own needs and make us believe that we need more, much more, than we actually do. We have to be made to consume. That is the strongest need of this man-made system I'm referring to.
But can one buy love, belonging, esteem or self-actualization? Can one really?
In reality, when we have our physiological needs fulfilled we should not have to consume anymore material resourses to fulfill the other needs. Love, belonging, safety, esteem, and self-actualization are feelings, non-physical, and should not require neither organic nor inorganic matter in order to be reached. Nothing should have to be purchased to fullfill the needs above the physiological ones. If we could live by those means we would not have to exploit the planet the way we do and we would eventually find balance and harmony.
So the questions are; what do we really need? Can it be purchased?
A human being is also an organic system with needs that has to be fulfilled in order for the system to stay alive. The needs of people are more complex than the needs of trees. We need water, oxygen from the air and nutrients but we also have psychological needs. Maslow's hierarchy of needs tells us that we have 1) physiological needs, 2) safety needs, 3) needs of love and belonging, 4) needs of esteem and 5) need of self-actualization. Obviously it is much harder for people to be able to uphold a balance. We are continously exploiting the planet and other organisms and we are responsible for the lack of balance on Earth. Why is that so?
I think the answer to the question can be found when another system is taken into consideration. That system is one that humans have created, not one that nature itself has given rise to. The biggest difference with this man-made system compared to natural ones is the fact that it does not just take what it needs and neither does it give anything back. In order for this system to survive it has to manipulate another system, the individual human being. In this way it works kind of like a huge parasite. This system has to make people confused about our own needs and make us believe that we need more, much more, than we actually do. We have to be made to consume. That is the strongest need of this man-made system I'm referring to.
But can one buy love, belonging, esteem or self-actualization? Can one really?
In reality, when we have our physiological needs fulfilled we should not have to consume anymore material resourses to fulfill the other needs. Love, belonging, safety, esteem, and self-actualization are feelings, non-physical, and should not require neither organic nor inorganic matter in order to be reached. Nothing should have to be purchased to fullfill the needs above the physiological ones. If we could live by those means we would not have to exploit the planet the way we do and we would eventually find balance and harmony.
So the questions are; what do we really need? Can it be purchased?
Tankar & händelser - Permalink
Comments
Postat av: mum
Det är ett mysterium att däggdjuret människan när hon kommer upp i tonåren i blindo och hysterisk fart börjar jagar efter nått som hon inte vet vad det är och i den rasande jakten glömmer bort att känna efter hur nuet känns och glömer att njuta av det existensiella, att vara en del av naturen, på naturens villkor, i samklang med alltet
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