Technology has become such an important and integral part of our lives that without it, we would feel its loss, not just metaphorically, but on a physiological level. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs works well to explain our relationships with technology.

This hierarchy certainly applies to my own experiences. While in the Navy, my ship ported into Guam multiple times. When overseas, there are a lot of extra things to think about that are easy to slip the mind. One of those things as it turns out, Is cellular service. I just assumed I would be able to use my cell phone as usual on my first deployment, but how wrong I was. We pulled in and I had no service, so I had to rely on the wifi in a laundromat that 30 other people from the ship were also relying on. The wifi was terrible and my phone was not provisioned for cellular service overseas. Physiological needs are defined as necessities like food and water. With technology, cellular service can feel like a necessity and sometimes it is. My physiological needs were not met in this instance.

In another personal example, starting college, I knew my laptop most likely was not going to be enough for me to handle my online classes, so I built my PC and ensured I had all the peripherals necessary to comfortably handle my work. This satisfied my physiological needs. Next, I ensure my software/ firmware is up to date and I regularly scan for viruses. This satisfies my safety needs. I sometimes play online games with friends, but I primarily use the PC to keep up with my finances and conduct training for my career. This preparedness has led to open conversation in my marriage about our finances as well as feeling accomplished with my career goals. The former satisfies my belongingness and love needs and the latter satisfies my esteem needs. Building the PC and keeping up with its maintenance is satisfying for me. I’m rewarded by meeting my four prior needs in the hierarchy and as long as I can meet the other four hierarchical levels, I do experience self-actualization.

It is my opinion that Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a loop that just looks like a pyramid. It is similar to the carnival game where you swing a hammer down on a rubber spring to try to get the highest score. When we start a new day, we restart the hierarchy and swing our hammer, trying to attain self-actualization in every pursuit.