Technology, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and Random Act of Kindness Day

The modern lifestyle is pacey and technology-oriented. With every passing day, we are moving away from people around us and getting consumed by technology. More and more time we are spending with our smart devices and lesser with humans in real life. Look at you right now, sitting with your smart devices, not conversing with any human being around you. Technology with social media platforms has provided us with a false sense of belongingness and a false sense of social approval. While getting likes and followers on social media might feel great, it is not a real connection. And we as humans need the real human connection of flesh and bones.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

A laughter that rings in ear and shines in eyes can not be replace by LOL. We all know how many times we actually laugh out loud while typing LOL. Its not genuine, its not real. It’s a false sense of connection, social approvals that are not genuine and really mean nothing. Such gratification with false supplies for our needs can leave us empty rather than fulfilled. This is like eating non nutritious food. You are gratifying your need to eat but you are not getting what your body actually needs.

For those who are not aware of him, Abraham Maslow was the founder of humanistic psychology and is pretty popular for his theories about basic human needs and motivation. He is the tenth most cited psychologist according to a 2002 survey. According to the famous Maslow’s hierarchy of needs humans have a set of five-set basic needs which he presented in the shape of a pyramid also known as a Maslow’s pyramid. Physiological needs such as food, drink, sex, sleep, and warmth are the most basic needs. After these needs are met more or less we move up to the safety needs such as protection from enemies (predators), illnesses, and natural calamities. Once a person has food and a safe place to live these needs are met. Next the move to the third set of needs which are the sense of belongingness and social approval.

Maslow Theory of Motivation

According to this theory once one level of set of need is more or less gratified, we can move up the Maslow pyramid and focus on gratification of those needs. Without gratifying the our physiological needs and arranging for security we can not be motivated to care about social approval. For example, a man whose city is under attack by enemy will first try to arrange for ration and find a secure place. Until the threat to his security is removed he can not care for what fellow men think of dress he is wearing or things he is doing to survive.

Similarly, if you have not affection, love and approval from those around you in the slightest way you will not be motivated to work on your self esteem or your reputation. You will be fixated on gaining the affection and approval of those around you. However, if you receive some amount of love and acknowledgement from your fellows only than you will be motivated to develop a self-esteem and work on building and maintaining a reputation.

In conclusion sense of belongingness and social approval is a very important need that has to be met in real life. If you are neglecting people around you and filling up on empty and false sense of belongingness that comes from social media, you are depriving yourself and those around you from a basic need.

These small gestures are full of kindness and can make the world a better place. A simple act of kindness on your part can mean a lot to someone. One kind act at a time and this could make you a better person and the world around you a better place to live. A little kindness can lift up spirits and help someone feel better about themselves and overall life. Just turn off all the technology for one day and spend your time spreading kindness. You will be surprised how it affects you.