Sublime

Meeting your own needs is the first step, not the ultimate goal.

Polymaths like Alberti constantly strove to attain their optimal state of being. Optimality is the fullest realisation of one's potential; it is different from pursuing an illusory ‘perfection’. Maslow said that ‘what a man can be, he must be’ and that one only attains a state of self-actualisation when ‘one becomes everything that one is capable o

our evolved drives for affiliation, status, parenting, and mates.

In other words, human beings cannot live alone. It is not that we cannot bear loneliness or that we want people to talk to, so much as simply not being able to live, on the level of survival. And in order to “divide labor” with another person, one must believe in that person. One cannot cooperate with someone whom one doubts.

Because we are dialogical beings, our self-esteem emerges from contact with others who provide us with the five A’s. The five A’s are not extras. They are the components of the healthy, individuated ego: Attention from others leads to self-respect. Acceptance engenders a sense of being inherently a good person. Appreciation generates a sense of sel

The Theory of Self-Determination explains that human nature exhibits the inherent growth tendencies of effort, agency and commitment. We are driven by our innate psychological need for competence, relatedness and autonomy. We are hardwired to fulfil our potential. We choose to do things that don’t directly or materially benefit us because it feels

If you wanted to generalize a bit, you could say there are six layers of desire: Material pleasure. Having nice food, a nice car, a nice house. Ego pleasure. Becoming well-known or rich and successful. Winning victories and recognition. Intellectual pleasure. Learning about things. Understanding the world around us. Generativity. The pleasure we ge

a pithy quote from Cavett Robert, ‘Most people are walking around, umbilical cord in hand, looking for a new place to plug it in.

Maslow’s theory has largely held up. Cross-cultural studies have found that happiness does indeed correlate with meeting five broad categories of needs: physiological, safety and security, love and belonging, status, and self-actualisation. However, the pyramid-shaped hierarchy (which was made up by business consultants, and has nothing to do with