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The Human Hierarchy of Needs

The Wise Turtle's Spiral Growth theory is partially based on Abraham Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, which is often expressed as a pyramid where the bottom needs are the most crucial for healthy development, and the higher needs become more important as the lower needs are reasonably well met.

The Wise Turtle's Hierarchy of Needs builds upon Maslow's theory by including a wide variety of research in modern developmental theory, plus a dash of her own creative wisdom, and just a bit of spunk, for good measure.

Each of the numbered levels of needs corresponds to the same numbered developmental stage from the Spiral Growth theory, and meeting a need at a given level moves the individual up to the next stage of development, via new motivations. The numbers also indicate the number of perspectives that an individual can take when looking at the world at the different levels. Infants see the world and themselves as being one and the same, with only one perspective available to them. Toddlers see two perspectives with themselves as one and others as the second. Older children learn to see things from a third perspective, from their own point of view as well as the points of view of two others. And so on, with each level of development/need adding a new perspective to the options the individual has for perceiving the world at a given time.

For each level of needs, the individual will redefine their values, beliefs, and expectations based on the need they are currently seeking. The individual will also include the values, beliefs, and expectations relevant to the lower needs, but they will feel less important or even be considered "common sense" or "child's play". If a previously met need is no longer being met satisfactorily, the individual will temporarily reprioritize their values and motivations to satisfy the need again, at which point their motivations will return to the highest level they had previously achieved.

All levels of needs progress somewhat seperately in the three elememts of human nature - physical, emotional, and intellectual. In other words, individuals must have their needs acutally being physically met, they must consciously think that their needs are being met via evidence, and must instinctively feel like their needs are being met for healthy growth to happen. If the needs in any one element - physical, emotional, intellectual - are consistently not being met, the individual will feel stuck, and highly frustrated, and may even be seen as immature, even if they are otherwise highly developed and successful. Furthermore, evidence seems to suggest that the emotional element of individuals tags along behind the physical and intellectual development - with individuals needing to actually have their needs met, as well as see evidence that their needs are being met before they will feel like their needs are met.

Note that the terms used for each level are generalized, and only give an idea of what the focus of each level is like in modern human society. The actual pattern of healthy growth and development follows a specific cycle where the need levels alternate between general states of contracting (seeking resources) and expanding (offering resources). The levels also alternate, two at a time, between focusing on the self, and focusing on the whole group one is participating in (family, community, world, universe, etc.). This pattern is further explained on the Spiral Growth theory page.

This pattern of needs for healthy development is not set in stone for each human being, but is fairly solidly built into human biology, and the motivation pattern is generally universal, in all cultures and communities, while the strategies and success rates may vary wildly from one group and individual to the next.



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