Abraham Maslow in 1943, proposed a hierarchy of the basic human needs broken down in to several different layers. Several decades later, we as a society have integrated technology into our every day lives, so much so that it too has found a home into our psyche as Maslow once illustrated.
The base of this hierarchy was described as “Physiological Needs”, now to some, it seems almost a joke that technology could become a physiological need, yet have you found yourself frantically looking for your phone when it was not where you left it? I once was on a job site that did not allow cell phones inside, so what did I do? I set it aside. Several hours later, I had instinctually reached my hand to where I had left it, and to my surprise, it was no longer there. I cannot begin to describe the panic that had set in, only to be shortly relieved when I had found it moved to a separate lock box. This physiological response to a cell phone speaks volumes onto just how reliant many are on their small creature comforts.
Security follows the aforementioned physiological needs on Mr. Maslow’s hierarchy, and it may be something that most leave unrealized. One of the most common uses of a cell phone is to text and make phone calls when you’re out and about, right? That provides the ability to tell our loved ones where we’re at, who we’re talking to, and in rare circumstances, call for emergency services in the event something happens. I had once gone on a long afternoon run, and admittedly forgot to charge my phone prior to heading out into the brisk Washington air. As I reached a rather remote part of my route, I noticed my phone was shutting down, leaving me absolutely isolated from the world around me. The absence of that lifeline was enough to send me back home long before I was due, without second thought. Our technologies give us that extra comfort of knowing we are connected, and without my phone keeping me connected, I had been overwhelmed with the fear of something happening.
Belongingness and love needs. This is a very simple need, and one that is central to a large majority of users on the internet. More specifically, social media has organically found a way to connect everyone and allow friends and family from thousands of miles away to reconnect and share memories. I recall my first deployment back when I was in the U.S Navy, spending several months away from my loved ones and staying up late into the night writing back and forth to home. Technology has transcended the limitations of distance, and in my case, provided that feeling of love and belongingness despite being several thousands of miles away.
Esteem needs. Similar to the previous needs, esteem is a function that has been made (for better or worse) a central theme in technology and social media. Humans like to feel good about themselves, mostly, and what better way to accomplish this than make a simple post? When my daughter was born, my wife had put up a photo of the two three of us, barely alive and running on fumes while in the hospital. After a week or so my wife had shown me all the comments from friends and family, giving us inspiration and really just making us feel great about ourselves and our family. That to me, is all the esteem I needed for a lifetime of parenthood.
At the very top of this hierarchy, we find “Self Actualization”. For the last twelve years I have been involved in the Information Warfare (IW) community, working in a very technical capacity. I learned much about myself, as I have learned to master the disciplines in which I am involved with. Technology advances almost daily, and so too I have learned to move with it. This self actualization is a culmination of finding all my basic needs accomplished, and for better or worse, technology has been integral in this process.