Is Maslow’s hierarchy itself an accurate belief, btw? How did you judge its accuracy?
This is a good point, but for now I will note that I have some personal empirical evidence in favor of it, it seems to make sense from an evolutionary point of view (e.g. food before status, because if you run out of calories you die right there) and it is widely accepted, so I will consider it true until evidence is brought against it.
it seems to make sense from an evolutionary point of view (e.g. food before status, because if you run out of calories you die right there)
That’s not necessarily true—there are instances where people starve themselves (though rarely to death) as part of a status-seeking effort.
In the modern developed world, food is dirt-cheap as long as you don’t engage in luxurious extravagance, so that even if you could stop eating altogether, you wouldn’t save a significant amount of money. However, in the past, when even the cheapest subsistence diet was a very large expense relative to income, many people would cut down on eating well beyond the point of discomfort to be able to afford various status-seeking goods to show off. Some other examples of status-seeking behavior that comes at the cost of starvation are religious fasting and dieting to improve one’s looks. Hunger strikes are a peculiar extreme example.
Overall, Maslow’s model is a useful first approximation, but nowhere near fully accurate.
This is a good point, but for now I will note that I have some personal empirical evidence in favor of it, it seems to make sense from an evolutionary point of view (e.g. food before status, because if you run out of calories you die right there) and it is widely accepted, so I will consider it true until evidence is brought against it.
Roko:
That’s not necessarily true—there are instances where people starve themselves (though rarely to death) as part of a status-seeking effort.
In the modern developed world, food is dirt-cheap as long as you don’t engage in luxurious extravagance, so that even if you could stop eating altogether, you wouldn’t save a significant amount of money. However, in the past, when even the cheapest subsistence diet was a very large expense relative to income, many people would cut down on eating well beyond the point of discomfort to be able to afford various status-seeking goods to show off. Some other examples of status-seeking behavior that comes at the cost of starvation are religious fasting and dieting to improve one’s looks. Hunger strikes are a peculiar extreme example.
Overall, Maslow’s model is a useful first approximation, but nowhere near fully accurate.
I think “useful first approximation” is all I need here.
Re: it seems to make sense from an evolutionary point of view
This makes more sense—from an evolutionary point of view:
“Rebuilding Maslow’s pyramid on an evolutionary foundation”
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/sex-murder-and-the-meaning-life/201005/rebuilding-maslow-s-pyramid-evolutionary-foundation