Maslow’s Heirarchy

Considerations on Maslow’s Heirarchy

by nick carlo

People talking about Maslow’s “Hierarchy of Needs” popped up in my life more than usual this past week. As no one normally mentions it at all, when I came across it a few times in a few days, it got me thinking. I had heard of it before, but it had been quite some time, so I did some review.

In 1943, Abraham Maslow published a paper entitled “A Theory of Human Motivation,” in the journal Psychological Review. In it he categorizes stages of human needs that, in his theory, stack on top of one another, in a pyramidal structure. In general he seemed to believe that one stage must be satisfied before the next stage of growth can be initiated. The stages according to his classification, from most fundamental, to “higher level” needs are: Survival needs like food, water, air, and shelter; Safety, as in a certain sense of security emotionally and physically; Love and intimacy from family and friends; Self Esteem, an internal feeling of value; Self Actualization, the process and accomplishment of achieving one’s goals. In later years he added on an extra level termed “Transcendence” or the giving of oneself to something greater than oneself, such as in religion or altruism.

Now this all seems to make a fair amount of sense. Humans have needs, and are motivated by them, and perhaps there is some order in which they may take precedence over each other. Granted, it is first and foremost a hypothetical model built to approximately describe factors of human motivation. And, it is unlikely, at least in my mind, that any one model can accurately depict the whole human psyche, but it does at least provide a framework, or lens through which to consider a society. In the Modern West, at the very least, it may seem reasonable that societies must be primarily motivated by survival before they can be motivated by the need for Love, perhaps, as if survival is uncertain, other needs must be postponed.

In most Western, technology based societies, basic needs such as food and safety are generally satisfied, at least for a majority of the people, and further emotional and psychological needs do seem to be decreasingly satisfied. So, perhaps this model is a more accurate depiction of current western societies, rather than all humans as a whole, or even past societies.

And this is where I started questioning how accurate of a model it is. First of all, it seems, on an individual level at least, that there is not too much of a strict boundary between these stages of needs. Many people are motivated by a combination of these needs simultaneously. Though, perhaps the actual achievement of them may fit within the structure of this paradigm. But does it need to? Is it necessary that survival needs are satisfied before spiritual needs? Historically is this how human societies have functioned or operated? I would argue that this is not the case.

Based on my understanding of a smattering of cultures here and there throughout time and location, I would assert that a more accurate paradigm of past human societies would be a near inverse of this Maslow’s pyramid. We can of course consider as far back as Europe in the middle ages; an entire continent from Portugal to the Ural Mountains, existed in a singular worldview, in a unified religious paradigm. Notions of “self-actualization” and “transcendence,” according to Maslow’s definitions, would have been fundamental needs, provided for by their society. In such a world, most people would have an understanding of their role and function in their society, and have a clear understanding of the purpose and meaning for their life, while the daily struggle consisted more of the pursuit of more “basic” needs like food and clothing.

We can also consider the United states of the 19th century. Self actualization was rampant. Pioneers manifesting destiny, establishing towns, farms, and businesses across the country seem to me like the autonomy and agency of the individual were in a sense “basic needs” that were encouraged by the social structures of the time. We can also consider the American Indigenous societies of the time, wherein it seems, as in many tribal cultures, everyone knows and understands the particular role they fulfill in the society. This is only possible if the individual members have a strong sense of self. It is understood that man is a spiritual creature on a growth quest wherein spiritual foundations are needed in order for the society to function as a whole. There is more impetus for achievement if we use our strong foundations of “transcendence” or in other words, religious practice and altruism, to motivate further growth, having its culmination in a fruitful harvest, to be worked towards, and shared by, the community.

Then comes the Industrial Revolution. Man, Time, Earth became commoditized. Human dignity became more and more sacrificed for production. The foundations of the society, formerly based in religion and human dignity, were traded out for foundations of “progress” and increased production. We can see the culmination of this progress in the World Wars that shortly followed, wars that saw the obliteration of no less than 8 kingdoms that had existed for centuries. Such a global revolution left a paradigm vacuum that needed to be filled by new psychological models for a newly ordered world.

In comes Maslow, and the Post War generations. Material production in the 1950’s United States was unprecedented. Sentiments of the old paradigm still existed, however dampened by the enervating effects of canned food. It is my understanding that in the Baby Boomer generation we see the hierarchy mid-flip, the pyramid on its side so to speak, where more of Maslow’s needs were met by a larger portion of the population than before. Survival and safety can now be taken for granted while still maintaining a sense of human dignity and agency. However, the old paradigm’s influence was waning, until now, when somehow, self-actualization is something that we ask the government for, or wait to be given. Even a large portion of the disparity between rural and urban American can be explained by this conflict of paradigms. The former, still holding on to the mere dregs of an obsolete paradigm, in a world progressing ever more quickly away from the seeming paradox of Survival Needs being an end goal, rather than a starting point.

In a sense it seems to me that Maslow and his theory intentionally attempted to cultivate a particular societal paradigm, and psychological worldview, for the generations of societies that would follow WWII. This theory is a prescription for our society, rather than an observation, that organizes what we see through the Overton Window into a particular paradigm that induces a tacit acceptance of a status quo that may not be the most conducive for emotional growth. C

Gabe Rutledge Ryan McComb

by ron evans

Saturday, July 10, comedy returns to Mission Ridge with an evening of Stand Up & Suds at The Chair 5 Pub. The show features comedians Ryan McComb and Gabe Rutledge. I reached out to event organizer/ promoter Alex Haley about this show and about the stand up world during a pandemic.

Comedy has been creeping back out into the world as Covid restrictions have eased. Are there any rules or current guidelines that make stand-up tricky right now or is it basically business as usual?

Covid has definitely made everything more challenging for event production this last year. This will be the first show I’ve produced since March of 2020 but since things are opening up I think people are hungry for live entertainment. We just finished the Apple Blossom Festival which had record numbers so I think the people are ready.

Over the course of the pandemic we have learned a lot about what works and what doesn’t work concerning stand up, and one thing that didn’t really work...virtual stand up. Talk about the challenges of keeping comedy alive over this past year.

To be perfectly honest, I kind of took a hiatus from comedy over the past year. I’ve performed a couple times at Badger Mountain Brewery’s comedy night, but otherwise I avoided the virtual shows because the only thing I can imagine that’s worse than bombing doing stand up comedy is having to watch myself bomb doing stand up comedy.

Have you seen any creative examples of virtual comedy shows/work-arounds that did work?

I didn’t watch many of them but I know they worked for some people and that’s great! I figured I’d just rather wait it out and see comics in their full glory…I’m such a purist! The one thing I have seen work really well is podcasts. It became necessary for people to do them remotely, which as a byproduct made them more accessible to a lot of people. Not to mention the ample free time some people were forced into.

Is this show at Mission Ridge a one-off or part of an ongoing series?

I’ve definitely learned over the years that it’s better to start small and grow organically if people dig it -cough cough- Wenatchee Comedy Festival. So we’re going to try this one and see if people are eager for a comedy show with a dramatic mountain backdrop and delicious food to pair. If it goes well, you can almost certainly expect more.

Tell us about the event’s headliner.

Gabe Rutledge is always top of my list! He’s hands down one of the best to do it and also happens to live in the PNW - jackpot! He’s one of probably three comics I always go to when I’m launching a new show or trying a new venue because he always kills.

What does the future look like for the rest of this year concerning stand-up in the Wenatchee area? And is there anything coming up you’d like to promote?

Not too much on the books but it looks like it’s coming back! Really missing the RadarStation right now... I’m hoping to do some outdoor shows this summer though and maybe some private backyard shows, so keep an eye out. The roaring twenties are upon us!

The show is 18 & older only. Tix can be purchased at missionridge.com - $40 plus tax (includes dinner and entry for the show). Dinner will be served prior to the show with doors opening at 6:30 pm and the show starts at 8 pm. C

by ron evans

This First Friday, Gallery One in Ellensburg is holding its fi rst ever street art exhibit, “The Writing’s On The Wall’’, curated by Jason Clifton. Clifton himself is an artist originally from Central Valley, California and now residing in Ellensburg. Over the past few decades Clifton has gone from skater, to skate shop owner, new contemporary and street artist to muralist and curator. Lately, he has been running all over the state collecting works for “Writing’s On The Wall” but we caught up with him long enough to chat about this upcoming show and this often misunderstood art form.

How did you get plugged in to the Ellensburg art scene?

I had broken into the Ellensburg 1st Friday Art walk scene because I had run several downtown skate shops and I knew most of the other shop owners. So I was able to call on those connections to put my art up in their stores and bars and restaurants, then I just moved all the art to a diff erent venue each month and continued to do that for three years straight. With all those new and old connections, word of my work became a regular fi xture of the Ellensburg art scene.

Some artists avoid the term ‘graffi ti”, is that a bad word amidst some street artists?

No graffi ti isn’t a bad word to street artists. At least not me because I do both. Graffi ti is the science of letter style and form. The type of styles and forms come from the idea that we are arming our letter against the Christian indoctrination of written and spoken language. We arm our letters with stylized attitude and defensive stances to protect our expression. Street artists owe a lot to graffi ti but there are cave paintings in Indonesia that are 40,000 years old that have been made by using hands as stencils and spitting pigments over them so stenciling has been around since before the Egyptians were writing on the walls at Edfu. During the course of doing the art walk circuit in Ellensburg and Seattle I met a lot of street artists and graffi ti writers, so after I got Ellensburg Downtown Association’s Artist Of the Year for 2019, I thought I could try and use that clout or accolade to get Gallery One to say yes to me curating the fi rst ever graffi ti show there. I didn’t know if they would do it. It’s not typically that type of gallery that’s interested in urban art, and to my surprise they said yes. It would be two years away because of the booking schedule. Also a strong impetus is to shed light on a misunderstood form of expression. In bigger cities, street art typically tackles themes like social justice, poverty, economic inequality, police brutality and oppression and it’s like preaching to the choir there. But in rural areas the impact of street art can be greater because the people living there don’t see the realities of these issues in their area, so it’s an attempt to dispel myths, perceptions and stereotypes about our culture and the state of people living in the modern world. “The Writing’s On The Wall” is also a challenge to the idea that belief equals truth. People can think and believe that graffi ti is fundamentally just illegal vandalism but that doesn’t necessarily make that true.

Describe the logistics of this kind of show. Does it involve pieces that will be brought to the gallery or are works being created AT the gallery? Hybrid of both?

The show is almost exclusively comprised of pieces that I’ve collected from other artists and brought to the gallery. Because the Covid restrictions are lifting people are active right now and traveling so we are going to paint in the gallery itself.

How many artists are involved?

The show features 9 artists from around the northwest including; Voxx Romana, Charms Won, Acodd, CCStencil, Dozer, TABS, HEED, Modemoner, and Gaber.

Show opening: Friday, July 2, 2021 AT 5 PM – 7:30 PM. No entry fee. Cash bar and live DJ. c