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The pyramid does confuse and muddy the waters a lot. Scott Kaufman's post[1] on his "sailboat" metaphor unpacks the problem well: The familiar pyramid shape su
by kashyapc 4y ago
The pyramid does confuse and muddy the waters a lot. Scott Kaufman's post[1] on his "sailboat" metaphor unpacks the problem well:
The familiar pyramid shape suggests that once we complete each step, we’re done dealing with that need forever. As if life were a video game, and once we complete each level, we unlock the next, with no looking back. It’s an appealing concept. It’s also a gross misrepresentation of the humanistic vision that propelled Maslow’s work.
Maslow emphasized that we are always in a state of becoming and that one’s “inner core” consists merely of “potentialities, not final actualizations” that are “weak, subtle, and delicate, very easily drowned out by learning, by cultural expectations, by fear, by disapproval, etc.”
[1] https://scottbarrykaufman.com/sailboat-metaphor/ https://scottbarrykaufman.com/sailboat-metaphor/