Summary

The article discusses the evolution of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in the context of modern virtual interactions and their impact on human psychology and relationships.

Abstract

The article "A Look at the Maslow Pyramid for Future Generations" delves into the adaptation of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs in the digital age. It suggests that while basic physiological and safety needs remain unchanged, the rise of virtual interactions has significantly altered the higher-level needs for love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization. The author argues that the ease of forming and dissolving relationships online has led to a devaluation of real-world connections and a skewed perception of status and prestige. This shift has introduced a new concept, "Virtual Competence," which reflects the ability to present oneself favorably in virtual environments, often at the expense of genuine self-expression and accomplishment. The article warns of the potential negative consequences, including increased feelings of loneliness, depression, and a collective sense of unhappiness, as individuals struggle to balance virtual and real-world experiences. It calls for a reevaluation of the importance of tangible relationships and real-life achievements to counteract the addictive nature of social media and the pursuit of virtual validation.

Opinions

The author believes that the ease of forming virtual relationships diminishes the value of real-world connections.
There is a concern that people are increasingly presenting a manipulated or false image of themselves on social media to gain validation.
The article posits that the virtual environment allows for a quick and often deceptive portrayal of one's status and prestige.
The author suggests that the overemphasis on virtual interactions can lead to genuine psychological issues, such as depression and social phobia.
The concept of "Virtual Competence" is introduced as a new, albeit illusory, need in the modern interpretation of Maslow's pyramid.
The author expresses that the addictive nature of social media has transformed virtual interactions from an option to a perceived necessity.
A call to action is made for individuals to prioritize real-life relationships and achievements over virtual ones to foster true self-actualization and happiness.

A Look at the Maslow Pyramid for Future Generations

Change Your Mind

What are the most basic human needs? As a more general question, what are human needs? It is in this very question that Maslow actually built a pyramid that you all know.

While at the bottom of the pyramid are the biological and indispensable needs of the human being, when you go to the upper layers in the pyramid, there are the necessary criteria for the emotional development of the human being to realize self-sufficiency.

Maslow’s thought was called a theory because it was general, abstract, and rational. I want to share this with you with the reasons and to raise awareness about this situation.

At the bottom of the pyramid are physiological needs.

These are the need for food, water, warmth, and rest. Then there are the security needs.

I don’t think there is a direct change in these parts, but let’s have a little discussion with you about the continuation of the pyramid. In the 3rd layer of the pyramid come the needs for belonging and love, friendships, friendships, intimate relationships.

Before continuing this article, this is not an objection written for people who can read my thoughts, but an article that I want to emphasize the concept of self and self needs for the next generation. Yes, intimate relationships are the general need of everyone, but is this the case for the next generations?

In the recent past, it was considered difficult to establish a bond of trust, because of the security at the bottom of the pyramid. Real relationships have been overshadowed by their virtual ones, become worthless. With a message given against a post on social media, people have become able to make friends faster than ever before.

The point I want to draw attention to here is not only that society has been created with the ability to take a person into your life in about 15 minutes, but also the opportunity to end people’s social relations in 15 minutes. So, according to what characteristics we decide whether these people can enter our lives or not, how do we examine their competencies for us? The pictures on their profile, namely the appearance, the job, school social status information, or the number of followers in the description. Here, too, we come to the 4th step of the pyramid: status, prestige.

People can write whatever they want on their social media, I’ve witnessed many times that many people who couldn’t handle the ax are showing off their new generation fancy job titles or tons of fake things they didn’t do. Reputation, status, and environment can now be faked very quickly in virtual environments, which naturally reduces the importance of reality, which is difficult. The sad part is that people believe in these fake situations themselves, getting more likes thanks to the manipulations on the pictures makes one feel more handsome/beautiful, the number of likes or followers increase makes the individual feel like they are in a circle. It shows that they are at a higher social level and that’s why it makes us feel happy. After these explanations, I would like to add one more concept to the pyramid, “Virtual Competence”.

I think that this part has no place in the pyramid, but has a place for people who feel this effect on social media, a need that does not actually exist, in a world that does not exist.

But this virtual need has a downside, how much can a person deceive himself?

Here we enter an endless cycle. Don’t people lose what they can get so easily, just as fast? When we lose, our need for belonging and love outweighs, and Maslow’s pyramid comes alive again. However, it is not easy for a social creature with so much virtual accumulation to return to tangible feelings, because in fact, individuals whose environment is virtual, will not have spent the necessary efforts in bilateral relations and this will not make us feel that we are not enough in the real environment.

This time, loneliness and returning to reality lead to situations such as depression, asociality, anxiety disorder, social phobia, and lack of belonging. In this case, the individual recovers with his real friends and real achievements, but then returns to the virtual environment again, the individual will do this because he feels he belongs there.

He’ll feel like he belongs there because you probably know that it’s an addiction and that there are dedicated teams at these app companies to make it an addiction, and they’re so successful that I’m telling you today that it went from addiction to need. I regret to say that I am well aware that I am in this cycle.

You are probably in this cycle. Being in this cycle really reduces the enjoyment we get from life and lowers our value judgments. Because we are always in a state of uncertainty, there is actually an illusion. We unconsciously become in need of attention in virtual environments, and when that happens, don’t people start to exhibit unbalanced attitudes anyway?

Let’s come to the last part, self-actualization, the last step of the pyramid. In fact, everyone we admire and envy is self-actualized. We can say that we have not come to this stage and that we are exposed to a state of collective unhappiness and that we are on a path that will get worse day by day. You feel unhappy when you are alone, this is the reason, it is very difficult to invest in both sides, some balance it, but the majority do not meet it.

Billions of people have immersed themselves in abstract virtual pleasures and see it as a necessity. You want to receive as much attention as those from your close circle in virtual environments, and when you can’t see it, people find themselves alone with a feeling of inadequacy.

Collectively, we are rapidly contributing to unhappiness, dissatisfaction, and an attention-hungry generation. While reading this, it may sound ridiculous to you, but most of the people around me (think of it as well) can change the happiness and satisfaction they experience with the high number of likes on the post they share, to the happiness they experience while drinking coffee with their friend. The only action we can take against this situation is to re-acknowledge the value of real relationships.

I believe that no bilateral relationship that you don’t put your effort into can create a real bond of love or trust, and the only way to do this is to be able to give and feel the awareness that the people you spend this effort on are more important than virtual pleasures. In this way, we will have the chance to remove the need that I call virtual competence from our lives.