Needs Evolution

The subjective natures of necessity, comfort, and luxury create a plethora of differing views, as one person’s luxury may be another person’s necessity. The difficulty of obtaining these definitions becomes apparent when considering necessities, comforts, and luxuries to a person lost in the woods as opposed to a person watching television on a couch at home. While shelter is a luxury to the person in the woods, to the person at home may view the remote control as a necessity. The definitions of necessities, comforts, and luxuries continue to evolve, as the desire to thrive replaces the task to survive and societal influence changes how people view basic needs and wants. In a contemporary world where cell phones and computers are considered necessities, it becomes easy to see why finding a universal definition for necessity remains difficult, for the question exists about what is truly crucial to life. Twentieth century American psychologist Abraham Maslow proposed a theory that attempts to explain human necessity as a pyramid of sequential basic needs. At the most basic level of human existence, survival is the goal; everything contributing to survival may be considered fundamental necessities. In Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the most basic human necessity is satisfying physiological needs. Few can argue with Maslow’s assessment of humans’ most basic needs, for air, water, food, and health create the foundation for life; neither comfort nor luxury exists without first satisfying these necessities for survival. The earliest efforts of human civilization persisted in the pursuit of satisfying these needs, evidenced in history by the rise of ancient civilizations predominantly near available freshwater sources and the proliferation of agriculture that created a controllable food source. As time progressed from these earlier stages and necessities met, survival became more assured and comfort increasingly became a consideration. Shelter became homes, food became cuisine, clothes became fashion, and the desire to improve the standard of living never left the human psyche.