Life, genes and needs
As mentioned in the Introduction, I consider needs (and the dynamics of their satisfaction) essential to the generation and maintenance of life in organisms and related species.
Indeed, as Richard Dawkins teaches, at the root of every living being’s behavior is the need for its genes to reproduce using the means and strategies that they have developed over the course of evolution and that are encoded in the DNA of the species that carries them. In this sense, organisms can be considered gene replicators and each species a peculiar reproductive strategy.
Beginning with the fundamental need for genes to reproduce, I assume that the various needs of organisms and their organs have emerged in the course of evolution, that is, the mechanisms that drive the organism (and the conscious self in humans) to procure, when needed, what is necessary to ensure their survival as individuals, and the preservation of their species.
The “when needed” is determined by homeostatic mechanisms, which in higher animals are related to pleasure and pain in their various forms, as taught by Antonio Damasio.
Homeostatic mechanisms and the needs to which they are related serve to manage the preservation of the concerned organ or the whole organism through appropriate internal or external changes. In fact, every organ, in order to function, needs to be in a certain biochemical state between two threshold quantities, below and above which it ceases to function properly or dies. When the state of the organ approaches one of the limiting quantities, processes are activated to bring the state of the organ back toward the optimal position, that is, the median position between the two limits.
Such processes may require some cooperation with other organs and give rise to changes in the behavior of the organism such as to promote the return to a healthy state of the organ that required intervention to restore its optimal state.
In this sense, the mind, prompted by demands generated by certain organs, can be the instrument through which actions are decided and implemented to meet those demands. The most trivial example of such mechanisms is that of hunger, which prompts the mind to find a solution to procure food for the body, a solution that may require an action, that is, a temporary or permanent change, in the person’s behavior. Sometimes, therefore, the body needs to change something in order to conserve itself. In other words, a need always requires some larger or smaller change, even if only to bring the organism back to a previous state.
I call primary needs the genetically determined homeostatic mechanisms, and secondary needs those that develop over an organism’s lifetime as means or strategies to satisfy the primary ones.
All needs (both primary and secondary) are functionally ordered in the sense that each need has the task of satisfying one or more higher-order needs and is in turn satisfied through the satisfaction of one or more subordinate needs. In other words, each need is not an end in itself, but serves other needs and is served by additional needs, in a functional network that develops from the primordial need of every living form, which is that of its genes, to reproduce.
Terminology and classification of needs and their derivatives
The term need, in common usage, can have several more or less broad meanings and almost always related to situations of distress or lack of which the person is more or less aware. In addition, the concept of need is often contrasted by difference with that of desire. Less used but still relevant are also the concepts of motivation, need, drive, desire, attraction, passion, interest, instinct, will, etc.
In my conception, need represents a lack that if not met (or filled) causes the dysfunction, disease or death of an organ or an entire organism (understood as an organ system). In this sense, need is the demand for a certain change of state or the acquisition of elements (material or immaterial) that can cause the needed change.
If the request for change implies the obtaining of something, then we speak of positive need, need for obtaining or need tout-court. If, on the other hand, the request implies the elimination, removal or avoidance of something, then we speak of negative need, avoidance need or rejection need.
In the following I will use the opposite expressions need and rejection to mean need to obtain and need to avoid, respectively. However, where not better specified, the term need tout-court includes both obtaining and avoidance needs in the following.
Regarding the concept of desire, I define it as a feeling of a lack that, if not satisfied, gives rise to an unpleasant feeling of frustration that is more or less intense, but without major health consequences.
As for the concept of motivation, I define it as the class to which all phenomena of requesting or seeking change (whether innovative or conservative) belong, a class to which belong the concepts of need, desire, drive, exigency, necessity, attraction, hope, desire, will, etc., and negative ones such as repulsion, avoidance request, allergy, fear, terror, etc.
We saw above that needs have a vital function. As for the other types of motivation, and particularly desires, I think they are all derived from needs, that is, they are expressions of needs themselves. In fact, if a person desires a certain thing, I do not believe that the object of desire, nor the mechanism of attraction is random, i.e., I am certain that there is a reason or rationale why a desire is formed and manifested, and I assume that each desire constitutes an attempt (like others) to satisfy an underlying need. In other words, through the satisfaction of a desire a need is also satisfied, at least in part and for a longer or shorter time.
Note: For simplicity’s sake, when I use the term “need” without specification, I mean “motivation” for it, thus including “desire” and other derivatives of needs.
It is interesting to note the connection that may exist between the concept of need and the concept of feeling. In fact, many needs are associated with feelings (for example, fear and repulsion are feelings normally associated with avoidance needs or desires).
In this regard, I believe that feeling is the measure and signal of the degree of satisfaction of one or more needs. That is, pleasure (in its various forms, including joy) arises from the satisfaction of a need, and physical pain (as well as mental suffering) from its dissatisfaction. We can consequently assume that without needs there would be no feelings, no emotions, no pleasures, no pains, no joys, no sadness, and perhaps no consciousness either.
Before we delve into a classification of needs, it is necessary to consider that while primary needs are by definition “healthy,” that is, they have developed in the phylogeny of our species to promote the survival and reproduction of our organisms, secondary needs (induced or self-induced due to the influence of culture and learning) may be more or less healthy or diseased, that is, more or less useful or counterproductive. In fact, I do not think there is any need to prove that every culture and education can have psychopathological and painful effects on certain individuals.
Consequently, when stating the importance of satisfying needs for a person’s psychophysical well-being, we need to refer to healthy needs.
Classification of human needs
For convenience of analysis, I have divided human needs into the following six classes. The concept of need is understood here in a broad sense and includes instinct, desire, passion, interest, attraction, drive, motivation, hope, etc., and the corresponding rejections, i.e., avoidance needs of that which opposes the satisfaction of the former.
Biological needs
Pertaining to: life, health, survival, sexuality, shelter, nutrition, protection and rearing of offspring, stimulation, sensation, rest, sleep, exercise, hygiene, recovery from disease, etc.
Cooperation needs
Pertaining to: community, cooperation, belonging and social integration, imitation, sharing, alliance, affiliation, solidarity, affinity, intimacy, interaction, participation, service, acceptance, approval, acceptance, respect, morality, ritual, dignity, reputation, responsibility, etc.
Freedom needs
Pertain to: freedom, individuation, diversity, rebellion, opposition, transgression, novelty, innovation, creativity, change, humor, selfishness, reserve, irresponsibility, etc.
Power needs
Pertaining to: power, competition, power, ability, supremacy, superiority, prevalence, dominance, ownership, possession, competitiveness, aggression, control, arrogance, jealousy, envy, etc.
Knowledge needs
Pertaining to: knowledge, language, cognition, understanding, exploration, calculation, measurement, information, observation, surveillance, curiosity, prediction, progress, memory, recording, documentation etc.
Beauty needs
Pertaining to: beauty, harmony, simplicity, uniformity, conformity, neatness, symmetry, synchronism, regularity, purity, rhythm, dance, song, sound, music, poetry, aesthetics, enchantment etc.
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To the six classes listed above, I have added one that affects all the others in the sense that it aims for consistency among them, that is, to avoid and overcome conflicts between needs:
Consistency needs
They concern: coherence, non-contradiction, concordance, conciliation, unity, synthesis, synergy, harmony, order, etc. between needs. They also concern the perception of the “meaning” of existence.
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For each of the classes listed above, I assume that there are one or more mental agents who are concerned with the satisfaction of the relevant needs autonomously, unconsciously and involuntarily with respect to the conscious self. On this subject see the chapter Mental Agents.
The following figure is an allegorical representation of the above-defined classes of needs, in which the relationship between needs and feelings (pleasure and pain) is alluded to, and the fact that needs cause humans to interact with the outside world, and in particular with other human beings, in order to satisfy those needs and thereby ensure the individual’s life and stability as well as the preservation of his species.
The following figure metaphorically illustrates the fact that, for each class of needs, there is a homeostatic mechanism that, starting from the “measure” of the satisfaction of the needs themselves, generates motivations and feelings designed to bring the degree of satisfaction of the needs to optimal levels as far as possible.
Next chapter: Free will.