Are your basic needs being met?

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I really disagree with that pyramid theory, which I studied in high school. I think needs and desires are all mixed together in a slurry, and vary per person.

Plus, morality, creativity, and problem solving (all in the fifth tier) are available and commonly held without security of body, employment, etc (the second tier).

"Achievement" is the only one I do not have that I want to have. But at the same time I know the futility of an individual life in the scheme of the universe if I do not succeed its no big deal and if I do its no big deal either.

If you have some "actualization" and most of the other parts of the pyramid but lose the shelter,food,etc....do you lose the actualization?I currently have the basic needs met but have no sense of security that I will have them in the future as I have lost them in the past and have no job security.

One problem of the present modern "consumer culture" is that being self actualized does not make for good consumers.The more insecure,lonely and disinterested a person is in how their consumption effects the rest of the world...that makes good consumers.Self actualization=bad economy.

No one will have sex with me, so I'm still struggling through red.

I tend to agree with this statement about the grand scheme. Though it seems clear that you at least care personally somewhat. Just don't give up completely, because then it is completely certain that you will never achieve that which you desire.

I enjoy your posts btw, some of them show a real depth of thought. Though now I must vanish into the darkness to clean the warm fuzzies from my body.

I think I have each in the proportion that is apropriate my individual circumstance and psycological health demands.

Only one I think is probably lacking is the yellow. Offline, I have only one friend, am not at all close with my family, and a bit short on the girlfriend front. Which also suggest a small lack in the red section. But I am not really sad about any of that. It's just something I wouldn't mind being different.

As far as the rest of the debate is concerend I think all of it is an ongoing endeavour. There is no point in time during a life in which you can rest and say "there, done". You can say "I have achieved this, and take a moment to bask in your pride, but there is always something to be done. As long as you are in the process of acheiving more and more then it is that process which is the needs being met and fulfilling the items in the heirachy of needs.

Asperger's can work on that heirachy in two ways. it reduces our capacity to achieve some of those goals, but it also reduces the target. For instance I don't desire a lot of friends, or intimacy. All those that require an external actor in order for me to achieve those goals, I am not all that fussed to have in large amounts. On the otherhand I do find it hard to keep a job (I am lucky with the one I have now), and I will probably not be any more than a menial task labourer, so I just seek my "achievement" in other areas. etc...

And as far as self-actualisation is concerned, I believe that you fulfill it in every single moment that you strive to achieve it. Life is the process of living, and to do it in a fulfilling way is (to me) self actualisation. The moment you stop and don't try to achieve those goals, that is when you miss out on self-actualisation, and indeed most of the rest of those goals.

We got it, yeah baby we got it

It seems to me, according to the description of characteristics below, that people with AS have a far greater chance of "self actualizing", reaching the pinnacle, fulfilling their potential. Maybe because we are less materialistic and have a better grasp on reality and what it means to be human. I'm not sure. But the list below seems to be describing Aspies. It also seems that it would be more difficult for NT's to reach the summit because they lack imagination and are so hung up on materialism and conformity in being like everyone else.


Maslow's Self-Actualizing characteristics

* keen sense of reality - aware of real situations - objective judgement, rather than subjective
* see problems in terms of challenges and situations requiring solutions, rather than see problems as personal complaints or excuses
* need for privacy and comfortable being alone
* reliant on own experiences and judgement - independent - not reliant on culture and environment to form opinions and views
* not susceptible to social pressures - non-conformist
* democratic, fair and non-discriminating - embracing and enjoying all cultures, races and individual styles
* socially compassionate - possessing humanity
* accepting others as they are and not trying to change people
* comfortable with oneself - despite any unconventional tendencies
* a few close intimate friends rather than many surface relationships
* sense of humour directed at oneself or the human condition, rather than at the expense of others
* spontaneous and natural - true to oneself, rather than being how others want
* excited and interested in everything, even ordinary things
* creative, inventive and original
* seek peak experiences that leave a lasting impression

And furthermore, to ad to my suspicion or suggestion that Asperger's Syndrome is truly a gift though it sometimes feels like a burden, are these thoughts and words of Maslow's:

In 1970 Maslow published a revision to his original 1954 pyramid ([1]), adding the cognitive needs (first the need to acquire knowledge, then the need to understand that knowledge) above the need for self-actualization, and the aesthetic needs (the needs to create and/or experience beauty, balance, structure, etc.) at the top of the pyramid. However, not all versions of Maslow's pyramid include the top two levels.

Maslow theorized that unfulfilled cognitive needs can become redirected into neurotic needs. For example, children whose safety needs are not adequately met may grow into adults who compulsively hoard money or possessions (see[2]). Unlike other needs, however, neurotic needs do not promote health or growth if they are satisfied.

Maslow also proposed that people who have reached self-actualization will sometimes experience a state he referred to as "transcendence," in which they become aware of not only their own fullest potential, but the fullest potential of human beings at large. He described this transcendence and its characteristics in an essay in the posthumously published The Farther Reaches of Human Nature. (see flow).

In the essay, he describes this experience as not always being transitory, but that certain individuals might have ready access to it, and spend more time in this state. He makes a point that these individuals experience not only ecstatic joy, but also profound "cosmic-sadness" (Maslow, 1971) at the ability of humans to foil chances of transcendence in their own lives and in the world at large.

I am trying to understand how I fit into this model.I agree that aspies in general tend to have a better chance of grasping the traits at the top of the pyramid.

I see a great love of knowledge and understanding,a desire to be authentic to our own selfs rather then blindly following a herd,many people here are involved in some form of "creating or inventing" and we value our ability to "reason and use logic" rather then be blindly led by emotional responses.Inspite of the fact that aspies are seen by NT's as lacking compassion,I see examples of it here everyday.There are also some theories that aspies have a desire to "save" the more vulnerable in society,weither they be animals,disabled,underdogs,etc.


However,even thought I like people in the "abstract",I have difficulty being around them(other then in the safty of this planet).And when I view humans as a "whole".....I seem to notice their cruelty,greed,and mass hysteria,insane consumption,inabilty to grasp their actions impact of the planet or others...there are many exceptions to this,but I see a statistical "humanity" influenced more by the culture I live in(US)then other cultures that I dont feel knowledable enough to "feel".So,I have an abstract compassion for humans,wanting them to not suffer but I have a lot of cynicism about their ability to overcome their own baser traits(need for power over others,greed,ect)


From what I can see in myself(sunjective).I think I have the bottom and the top but very little of the middle and I think I had a desire to obtain the things at the top since childhood.I do believe it is innate to aspies.Not based on "learning and reasoning" that this are good objectives but as necessary to us as the air,water,shelter and food.If our life circumstances seem to block us from attaining the top of the pyramid,I believe we suffer as much as if we were hungry or thirsty.

Actually yeah, though I'd imagine mine's really top and bottom-heavy, the middle isn't so bad because what I do lack in the sexual arena I make up for just in the sense that I'm lucky enough to have a pretty good social life.