What's behind the name "Maslow's Peak"?
The name of the website comes from my philosophy that individuals and society can evolve towards ideals together, in mutually beneficial patterns.
Mid-20th century psychologist Abraham Maslow believed that once our basic needs are met, we are each naturally driven to realize our full human potential. In his Hierarchy of Needs theory, he proposed that we are always concerned first with survival. We must spend energy foremost on ensuring that we are fed, clothed, and safe. If our physical selves are in constant or intermittent jeopardy, we are consumed with practical problem-solving. But once there is an established baseline of material nourishment and adequate shelter, according to Maslow, we intuitively shift focus to more complex needs.
The name of the website comes from my philosophy that individuals and society can evolve towards ideals together, in mutually beneficial patterns.
Mid-20th century psychologist Abraham Maslow believed that once our basic needs are met, we are each naturally driven to realize our full human potential. In his Hierarchy of Needs theory, he proposed that we are always concerned first with survival. We must spend energy foremost on ensuring that we are fed, clothed, and safe. If our physical selves are in constant or intermittent jeopardy, we are consumed with practical problem-solving. But once there is an established baseline of material nourishment and adequate shelter, according to Maslow, we intuitively shift focus to more complex needs.
Maslow believed we then move towards the work of developing reliable, supportive relationships. We want to regularly engage in the giving and receiving of love. We want to be a part of some sort of community. According to this philosophy, the successful development of substantive trust in the people around us provides another building block towards what he called self-actualization, seen as the pinnacle of the process of personal growth.

Taking the next step, once we feel we can rest on the support of others, we become excited about things like sharpening our individual talents, and making a unique contribution. We find satisfaction in taking on more responsibility, like developing and completing projects, or managing group endeavors. A growing confidence in these areas, Maslow reasoned, leads to even more growth.
At that point, we begin a rest-of-life process of self-actualizing. We are drawn to pursue deeper knowledge and insight. We seek wisdom. We experience awe and wonder. We see ourselves through an increasingly wider lens, part of something beyond self, family, community, tribe - a part of the world, a part of the universe. Maslow's philosophy describes a peak at which we perceive a reality that is greater than the sum of its parts. Perhaps that means the majesty of science, perhaps the divinity of love, or both, or something else altogether.
Importantly, Maslow's theory says that there is a natural progression, and innate drive, in human development, to move from mere existence to what Maslow called the state of "Being". He posits that once those subsistence needs are met, and feelings of agency and capability grow, human beings seek success and excellence as a matter of course.
If this is true, it has great implications for how we should view the social world, and approach management of peoples, i.e., government, private enterprise, and charity.
I wholeheartedly believe in the theory, and have experienced moving through these stages over and over myself. I don't think it is a wholly linear process, from bedrock straight to the peak, but something more complicated. I believe that our steps in this process vary at times, according to things like our health, our economic stability, the functionality of our current relationship, even simply our age. When we are very young, for example, we may only need to be two or three steps up the pyramid to feel satisfied. Of course, interestingly, that is a time when we are reliant on others to see to it that the first couple levels of need are met.
Indeed, I feel sure we make movements up and down the pyramid throughout our lives. Importantly, throughout these fluctuations, I believe that those who are most able to conceptualize the top of the peak, even in periods of mucking around in the subsistence levels, will ultimately make their way up all the farther.
Most important to me, in terms of my work, is my belief that even as we work as individuals to climb to the peak, society can engage in the same pursuit. I believe if we are able as a group to grow ever more certain of reliable access to food, shelter, and physical safety, we will be freed up to put our energy into developing and improving society. I believe if we all feel fully provided for, we will naturally desire mutual gain, and eventually a shared sense of fulfillment. This fulfillment can be attained in countless ways, including individual pursuit of business success, or art, or medicine, or technological innovation. It might be in a trade or as a parent. But ideally we would all have our survival needs met, and be able to go on to pursue the goals that allow us to make a contribution back to society.
I believe that the achievement of synchronicity (in climbing toward the peak) between the individual and society is important and attainable. As individuals receive support from society, they are better able to contribute to the whole, pouring resources back in. The society is then all the richer, and has more to provide the individual. There is no contradiction between this concept and the ideal of individual achievement. Rather, the two complement each other. Ultimately, we have nothing to fear from either individual greatness, or from societal wholeness and functionality.
At that point, we begin a rest-of-life process of self-actualizing. We are drawn to pursue deeper knowledge and insight. We seek wisdom. We experience awe and wonder. We see ourselves through an increasingly wider lens, part of something beyond self, family, community, tribe - a part of the world, a part of the universe. Maslow's philosophy describes a peak at which we perceive a reality that is greater than the sum of its parts. Perhaps that means the majesty of science, perhaps the divinity of love, or both, or something else altogether.
Importantly, Maslow's theory says that there is a natural progression, and innate drive, in human development, to move from mere existence to what Maslow called the state of "Being". He posits that once those subsistence needs are met, and feelings of agency and capability grow, human beings seek success and excellence as a matter of course.
If this is true, it has great implications for how we should view the social world, and approach management of peoples, i.e., government, private enterprise, and charity.
I wholeheartedly believe in the theory, and have experienced moving through these stages over and over myself. I don't think it is a wholly linear process, from bedrock straight to the peak, but something more complicated. I believe that our steps in this process vary at times, according to things like our health, our economic stability, the functionality of our current relationship, even simply our age. When we are very young, for example, we may only need to be two or three steps up the pyramid to feel satisfied. Of course, interestingly, that is a time when we are reliant on others to see to it that the first couple levels of need are met.
Indeed, I feel sure we make movements up and down the pyramid throughout our lives. Importantly, throughout these fluctuations, I believe that those who are most able to conceptualize the top of the peak, even in periods of mucking around in the subsistence levels, will ultimately make their way up all the farther.
Most important to me, in terms of my work, is my belief that even as we work as individuals to climb to the peak, society can engage in the same pursuit. I believe if we are able as a group to grow ever more certain of reliable access to food, shelter, and physical safety, we will be freed up to put our energy into developing and improving society. I believe if we all feel fully provided for, we will naturally desire mutual gain, and eventually a shared sense of fulfillment. This fulfillment can be attained in countless ways, including individual pursuit of business success, or art, or medicine, or technological innovation. It might be in a trade or as a parent. But ideally we would all have our survival needs met, and be able to go on to pursue the goals that allow us to make a contribution back to society.
I believe that the achievement of synchronicity (in climbing toward the peak) between the individual and society is important and attainable. As individuals receive support from society, they are better able to contribute to the whole, pouring resources back in. The society is then all the richer, and has more to provide the individual. There is no contradiction between this concept and the ideal of individual achievement. Rather, the two complement each other. Ultimately, we have nothing to fear from either individual greatness, or from societal wholeness and functionality.