COLLECTIVE SELF-ACTUALIZATION – IN A NUTSHELL
Chapter 1:
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is a stratified pyramid with multiple levels, moving from the bottom levels (generally speaking, needs) to the higher levels (wants), culminating in “self-actualization”. This is currently a motivational theory, developed 60 years ago by Abraham Maslow, which is taught in high school and college classrooms all around the world. Until now, it was simply one way to view the development of a human being into everything they were capable of becoming (i.e., actualizing all the potential contained in one’s self; thus, “self-actualization”). Now, this concept of a hierarchy of needs has been extended into a sociological framework, which if learned by you and taught to the masses, could potentially result in individual and collective self-actualization. In other words, do you want our species to not only survive the self-destructive path we are accelerating towards but thrive to the point that we can literally reach the stars? If so, then read on.
Chapter 2:
In this example of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, the lowest, base level represents fundamental physical and physiological needs for existence (for instance, oxygen and water). Once immediate survival of the body is possible, it then becomes a matter of sustaining that state (food, shelter). So we have a sustained, healthy human life- now what? At the middle level of the hierarchy, we have social interaction where relationships develop between the individual and others (friends, family). After we have all this secured, we approach the higher levels of the pyramid which represent more highly developed thoughts and endeavors combined with a search for deeper meaning (art, math). In a nutshell, the lower levels are the needs, and the higher levels are the wants. So, generally speaking, once you have all your needs and wants fulfilled, you have reached the highest level- the pinnacle- of the pyramid: "self-actualization".
Chapter 3:
The sociologist Abraham Maslow who initially developed the concept of self-actualization didn't have a working definition for it; instead, he took common characteristics of historical figures he admired like Abraham Lincoln, DaVinci, etc. and characterized those self-actualized as creative, happy, intuitive, etc. Note: Maslow never *defined* self-actualization- he only characterized it. So how do you know if you are self-actualized? How can this state be achieved if it does not have a sound definition? This is our starting point, sports fans- generating a working definition of self-actualization. What you are about to read is our proposed definition for self-actualization which is the result of years of thought, research, analysis, discussion, and then more thought (as an aside, if you have an idea, insight, or question about any of this, please send us a message- everything here is up for discussion, and that is basically what we’re trying to create here by doing this in the first place).
Chapter 4:
In our definition, there are two criteria in defining self-actualization: the 'objective' and the 'subjective'. The objective criteria for self-actualization simply states that "Self-Actualization occurs when one fulfills the needs and wants they choose to have fulfilled". Note here that it is the needs and wants you *choose* to have fulfilled, not the needs and wants you happen to have. If we define self-actualization like that, then a serial killer for instance could say that they "happen to want to kill people", and therefore they are self-actualizing by engaging in those behaviors. For morality to exist in our definition, therefore, we must define self-actualization as the fulfillment of the needs and wants you choose to have fulfilled because then it is intrinsically implied, assumed, and granted that #1. you are a rational, moral agent and #2. you are engaging in an ethically significant interaction whereby you are actively taking on, by you own free-will and accord, moral accountability. To re-cap: the objective criteria for self-actualization states that self-actualization is the state of the fulfillment of all the needs and wants you choose to have fulfilled.
Chapter 5:
The subjective criteria of the definition of self-actualization, to be straight forward, can be stated like this: "Self-actualization is the fulfillment of all the needs and wants you choose to have in a manner that is consistent with the principles of:
1. Justice (fairness, equity)
2. Autonomy (the ability for one to pursue self-direction and not impede upon that)
3. Beneficence (basically, to do good)
4. Non-maleficence (to do no harm)”
These four ethical principles are actually borrowed from the core principles of medical ethics, so what we are doing in a sense is putting the current state of medical ethics development into social action. So now, we have a working definition for self-actualization. "Self-Actualization" df. The state of fulfillment of all the needs and wants you choose to have fulfilled in a manner consistent with autonomy, justice, beneficence, and non-maleficence.
Chapter 6:
Learning about self-actualization in college as Maslow described it was what got me thinking this singular thought: What happens after self-actualization? Obviously maintaining the state of self-actualization would be an intrinsic component of it, but is there anything beyond it? That's when it dawned on me- to take the two angular sides of the hierarchy's triangle and extended those lines into arrows going outwards towards infinity (look at the graphic on the page if this is confusing). Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, as it is currently formulated, only deals with the individual (and ultimately their own self-actualization), but as my Dad taught me, "there is the whole concept of other people". So it only made sense that the inverse pyramid would represent other people. The more people you help, or positively impact, or help to reach high levels of their own hierarchy of needs, the bigger your inverse pyramid proportionately grows. So that is the answer to the question of what happens after self-actualization: survive in and maintain that state as long as possible in order to thrive with and through the company of others. If everyone does this, the world would be unfathomably wonderful, and yes, it sounds darn near impossible now, but … it’s possible. And it starts with you. But it doesn't end there. We're just getting started.
Chapter 7:
This concept of a pyramid, a hierarchy with different levels culminating at the top pinnacle (what we have just defined as self-actualization) applies to not only individual humans, but groups of humans. Take for instance a stereotypical "nuclear family", with a mom, dad, and 2 kids. They have their collective hierarchy, consisting of lower level needs and upper levels wants, and as long as they obtain the needs and wants they collectively choose to obtain in accordance with the subjective criteria, then they are by definition COLLECTIVELY SELF-ACTUALIZED. And so, this concept of collective self-actualization can now be used as a motivational and directional-providing tool for groups of people that has only until now been applied to the individual.
Chapter 8:
Now what place does an idea like collective self-actualization have? Perhaps, it is the perfect candidate for being the organizing principle for society. An organizing principle is a central assumption from which everything else derives its value. Take for example the grid pattern of the layout of the streets in downtown Manhattan. If a building was built in the middle of an intersection, that would be a problem because that building's placement comes in direct conflict with the organizing principle of the grid- pattern layout. So in America for example, what kind of organizing principles do we operate by? Capitalism? Democracy? What about in, say, Saudi Arabia? There, it could be suggested that sharia (Islamic Holy Law) and Islam in general are the societal organizing principles. So, to conclude all this, what we are proposing is a lofty, but not impossible, goal. We want to get a critical mass of precious human beings on board to this idea of using the concept of individual and collective self-actualization as a real goal that we can head towards as a society.
Chapter 9:
12/21/2012 came and went. What do we do now? Here is one outstanding answer to that very important question- genuinely pursue individual and collective self-actualization at every level, which therefore would include world-wide collective self-actualization. Let's say that again. World-wide collective self-actualization. Can we make it happen? Well, "we" is a bunch of "yous" (which includes me). It's up to us to spread this knowledge and the love and real and immediate desire for change it creates to quicken the manifestation of actualizing that which we are individually and collectively capable of. Go hug someone, share this, then let’s begin the real-life task of taking an inventory of all of our needs and wants (at both our individual and collective levels (that is, the collectives we as individuals are a part of, e.g. the Jones Family, member of North High School, a U.S. Citizen, etc.)), deciding what it is we want, what it is we need, obtaining all of that in a moral manner as previously outlined, then help others through our/your success such that we build each other up as a species to the extent that true sustainability, which is the most imminent and important issue facing us today, is attained and sustained in a genuine way via collective self-actualization. Here it finally is, friends: a path toward genuinely sustainable sustainability on every level.
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