Isle Talk Story » needs

The Human Kingdom

Ken Fields — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 21:15:21 +0000

The human kingdom is situated at stage 4 and all the archetypal themes relevant to that stage of development apply to us as humans on a broad general basis. The developmental tasks, needs motivations and paths for humans apply to all of us. Of course, within that human kingdom, which we might call 4th Grade, there are 7 classrooms i.e., developmental stages, through which we, as humans, metriculate.

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Stage	Developmental Needs	Developmental Tasks	Developmental Paths	Developmental Motivations
4	Esteem	Identity	Achievment	Individuality

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Developmental Motivations

Ken Fields — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 07:48:17 +0000

What motivates you? What motivates your friends, your companions? (Remember from a previous past that “socio” means “companions.”). What motivates a society? A nation? Or a collection of nations, that makes of a human world? What is “motive?”

Motivations are energies that animate the psyche, which animates the bio, the body. Psyche motivations also animate the society at large, the socio being made up of individual persons, each of whom is both bio and psyche. And, the collection of “companions” that make up a society(or neighborhood), the group, the mob…..has a mind of its own.

Fundamental motivations are word labeled “pleasure” … and “pain” and “reward” / “punishment.” But, what those words mean are not absolute fixed realities. As paradosical as it may sound, one person’s pain may be another’s pleasure, while for some punishment is a reward. The psyche logic can be quite silly at times.

Higher motivations have to do with Outcomes. End results. The path to an end result may indeed contain pain the pleasure being willingly delayed.

Developmental outcomes are the results of need satisfaction at any given stage. To the degree we have met our needs, we are healthy, well balanced, feel good….relatively happy, much of the time. The malaise millions feel, even if periodically, can be related to the lack of need satisfaction. Developmental needs, and the outcomes from their satisfaction, or obstruction, can be categorized into generally positive and negative. The end result of our developmental tasks can be broadly stroked with single word labels.

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Stage	Developmental Needs	Developmental Tasks	Developmental Paths	Positive Outcomes	Negative Outcomes
7	Beauty	Integrity	Synthesis	Acceptance	Denial
6	Knowledge	Generativity	Giving	Service	Boredom
5	Belonging	Intimacy	Engagement	Connection	Alienation
4	Esteem	Identity	Achievement	Individuality	Conformity
3	Control	Competence	Exploration	Industriousness	Shame
2	Safety	Autonomy	Opposition	Independence	Guilt
1	Sustenance	Trust	Receiving	Faith	Doubt

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Needs To Know

Ken Fields — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:50:24 +0000

Our developmental needs can be expressed in broad-based and comprehensive terms, as depicted in the one word labels in the table below. Each word-label can be extensively elaborated upon but, for the sake of general discussion, these one word labels can suffice. They are more like over-arching themes for each psyche-socio stage of development. And, they overlap. It’s not that in late adulthood we no longer need identity, or exploration….but, the need for knowledge, both self knowledge, and knowledge of our larger environment, is more dominant. Here, knowledge refers much more to the synthesis of life experience rather than mere fact gathering.

This collection of needs, chronologically unfolding and age-based, is referred to as “the heirarchy of needs.”

Certainly, the need for sustenance is prevalent throughout the entire range of needs, as is the need for safety, but when consistently satisfied, other needs arise. Also, sustenance and safety are not limited to purely physical concerns; there are needs for psyche sustenance and psyche safety, as well as socio sustenance and socio safety.

Although this collection of 7 Needs is considered heirarchical, it is also interwoven. Even the lower level needs such as control and esteem are influenced by the higher level needs, such as the need for knowledge and beauty.

When higher needs are not satisfied, there is psyche-logical malaise in much the same way physical deterioration is the result of neglect. Malaise is like a slow psyche-logical starvation.

It’s helpful to recognize our higher level psyche-socio developmental needs. It can add to one’s sense of direction, meaning and purpose.

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Stage	Age	Stages of Psyche-Socio Development	Spheres of Influence	Developmental Needs
7	76-90+	Late Adulthood	World	Beauty
6	41-75	Middle Adulthood	Nation	Knowledge
5	21-40	Early Adulthood	State	Belonging
4	13-20	Adolescence	City	Esteem
3	8-12	Later Childhood	Community	Control
2	3-7	Early Childhood	Neighborhood	Safety
1	0-2	Infant	Home	Sustenance

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The Needs Of A Child

Ken Fields — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:27:46 +0000

In a sense, we are all children….the fundamental needs we had as a child don’t go away just because we are now an adolescent or an adult; those needs are still quite prevalent; but, because they have been met, are taken care of, on a daily basis, we focus on higher more pressing needs….

The needs of a child are simple: nourishment, both physical and psyche-logical and safety, both physical and psychelogical. From those needs being met, trust develops; trust in others, trust in the world, and trust in self.

Our fundamental sense of trust, formed during childhood, permeates our perceptions and we are ever responsive to threats to safety, and nourishment. For the most part, there are no or minimal threats, and we continue on our path of lessons through our gradations of developmental stages working with higher needs of self identity and engagement with the larger community. But, all the while, within us and within everyone we meet, is the child….with ongoing needs of nourishment and safety….

You might say that a child needs love, care, encouragement, etc.,etc….I agree, and have lumped those all into the psyche-logical nourishment category…..What can be more nourishing to Psyche than love, care and encouragement…..And, when it comes to those things, we are ever children….