NEEDS
| Collection | International Encyclopedia of Systems and Cybernetics |
|---|---|
| Year | 2004 |
| Vol. (num.) | 2(2) |
| ID | ◀ 2243 ▶ |
| Object type | General information |
The basic requirements for a system to maintain its identity and level of organization.
E. LASZLO presents in a hierarchic form an “exclusive categorization” of needs, based on A. MASLOW's work. (1974, p.45).
This hierarchy is reproduced hereafter, but subdivided according to the growing order of complexity of the concerned living systems
All living beings
- “Safety needs (protection from weather, other species)
Social animals
- “Belongingness and love needs (family and social group membership)
Humans
- “Esteem needs (having the respect of oneself and his/her peers in society)
- “Self-actualization needs (fulfilling one's potentials in his/her public and private capacity)
- “Cognitive needs (understanding one's relations to society and comprehending order in nature and the cosmos)
- “Aesthetic needs (perceiving beauty and order in experience)”
There seems thus to exist an evolution of needs toward progressive differentiation and complexity in dynamic systems, very probably related to the progressive complexification of the brain.