JEFF W. writes:

Sheryl Sandberg’s life may seem loveless and Godless, but she, of course, is part of a larger culture that devalues love and values “self-actualization.”

University-trained modern Americans are taught that love is a chemical reaction of short duration. Universities do not teach that there is an eternal love that comes from God and that the Holy Spirit pours into human hearts.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, which has been taught at universities for more than 40 years, shows love as two steps down from self-actualization and lumps love together with friendship (which also includes, I suppose, Facebook friends). Maslow trivializes love in order to preach the idolatry of the self.

In the religion of the idolatry of the self, Sheryl Sandberg is a exemplary devotee. She has self-actualized all the way to the bank.

We should remember that this self-idolatry is the official religion of contemporary America. It is taught at universities at taxpayer expense.

                                — Comments —

Jane S. writes:

Self-worship = Satanism.

Strong language, I know. But I had to say it.

Proph writes:

Notice the last two items on Maslow’s “self-actualization” part of the pyramid: “lack of prejudice” and “acceptance of facts.”

Unless the fact is that you’re a man, in which case the self-actualizing thing to do is to mutilate your genitals and walk around in a moo-moo. (But does my saying this make me prejudiced?)

Laura writes:

As Kristor would point out, believing in non-prejudice is itself a form of prejudice.

Earl writes:

All of you are completely misreading Maslow’s Hierarchy. It’s not that self-actualization and esteem are more important than love/belonging; it’s saying that those two needs can’t be achieved until the need for love and belonging is fulfilled.

Jeff’s statement about Maslow equating love to having facebook friends is simply silly. Maslow was referring to growing beyond selfish self-interest to loving others. That should be a familiar concept to Christians. It’s about belonging to a society, a family, a mate. It is agape and eros. You cannot love yourself or reach your full potential until you first love others.

Buck writes:

Seriously. Maslow must have been seen as brilliant. I remember seeing versions of his pyramid everywhere on text books and magazine covers.

One example of his scientism was his work with monkeys. By depriving monkeys of food and water, he was able to determine, that thirsty and hungry monkeys will drink first; that they need to quench their thirst first, before they eat. I don’t know. If I’m thirsty and hungry, I’ll probably take a sip from my beer before I eat a pretzel. But, If I’m not really thirsty, like just after sipping my beer, I may eat a pretzel or bite into a slice of pizza, and then take another sip of beer. He prioritized stuff like that and wrote it all down. [Laura writes: This is profound.]

He also surmised – at least I hope that he didn’t actually choke his monkeys – that if you are being strangled or suffocated, your need for air will come first, even before sex or quenching your thirst. In actualizing, timing is everything.

To fill out his pyramid, he read about the well documented lives of strangers and he talked to friends. He read about famous people, who were, well, famous for some reason. His scientific theory and working assumption was that they must already be fully self-actualized. He worked backwards from there and rounded it out his hierarchy of needs with what he learned from his friends.

It gets complicated working up to that capstone. Need deficits, homeostasisises(s), all kinds of physical and psychological hungers, good and bad self-esteems, and instinctoids. Need-deficits lead to a host of meta-pathologies, but met meta-needs help to avoid depression, despair, disgust, alienation, and cynicism and help us reach for higher levels of consciousness. Makes me think of Chutes and Ladders.

Mary writes:

In response to Earl, I don’t think people are misreading Maslow’s hierarchy, I think they are impatient with the idea of “self-actualization” because it’s silly. And we all know what a mess we have made in our schools focusing on “self-esteem”. Earl is trying to tie Maslow’s thinking to Christianity, but that’s a stretch. It seems to me Maslow developed this hierarchy in the complete absence of God; one could even say that in trying to dissect the essence of the human person in this way he is supplanting God, whether or not it’s intentional. God wants simplicity for us, simple hearts and simple love, and this will never be achieved if we follow this type of thinking, which complicates things immeasurably.

Jeff W. writes:

It is not easy to describe Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is just a few words. It is proper to call it an idolatry of the self, because it focuses on the self to the complete exclusion of God. But it also has a touch of wealth worship or success worship in it, as it includes needs for “achievement” and “respect by others.” It also uses the familiar cult format of achieving a blessed state by passing through several stages of refinement. On the lowest levels of the pyramid are the gross people who live on an animal level, caring only for food, shelter and clothing. At the top of the pyramid are those refined devotees who care about morality, creativity, etc. As a short description, “a godless cult of the self” would be fairly accurate.

The frauds that comprise Maslow’s hierarchy are like Russian matryoshka dolls that nest inside each other. First, there is no blessed state in this world called “self-actualization.” For a Christian believer, the Christian life is a constant battle against sin. The life of the unbeliever is far worse. It is a life of helpless enslavement to sin, where sin progressively destroys all the love in his life, his mental health, and finally his soul.

Second, the path that Maslow describes does not lead to any blessed state. It only leads to destruction.

Third, this cult fraudulently dresses itself up as science. It is no more science than Scientology is a science. The human needs on the lower levels are plain to anyone. The “needs” in the upper levels of the hierarchy are merely traits and qualities valued by university professors. The commercial motive of this cult is to convince its victims that extended university schooling will help students attain the blessed state of self-actualization.

Earl writes that Maslow’s hierarchy is about eros and agape. That could not be further from the truth. Eros means desire, and because human desires are innate, we do not need Maslow or his hierarchy to feel a desire for approval, material success, sex, etc.

Agape is a word used by Christians and it means God’s love. Agape is “the fruit of the Spirit,” which means that it is given by the Holy Spirit to those who walk in the Spirit. It is a gift of God. If Maslow claims that agape can be attained solely by human efforts, then that is another fraud.

The modern world is full of self-actualization cultists. Ann Romney has recently been attacked for staying home with her children rather than getting a good-paying job where she can self-actualize. The viciousness with which she was attacked reveals these cultists’ true nature.

Natassia writes:

I had to study this pyramid in various high school and college psychology courses. I did not realize how upside-down and mixed-up it really was until I was struck by the words of Jesus:

“It is written: ‘Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ “

and

“For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world…I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”

So many people I have met who lacked various things at the top of the pyramid (self-actualization, esteem, love, and more importantly spiritual health) were completely incapable of even providing for themselves the basic necessities like food, shelter, and clothing. Many people who are homeless and cannot feed themselves are mentally and spiritually unhealthy. If you’re not right in the head and in the heart, then the body will be sure to follow. But for those who buy into Maslow’s pyramid, they think that if they can just keep people’s bellies full and a roof over their heads and provide plenty of tolerance, then everything else will be sure to follow. No, what is needed is SPIRITUAL bread along with the physical bread. I remember reading a post on your site a little while back about a women’s shelter or soup kitchen that provided meals along with plenty of television. This is what comes of government and secular non-profits taking over the charity work in communities. People may have full bellies but they surely carry starving hearts.

Jeff W. adds:

I can’t resist saying one more thing about Maslow’s hierarchy. Not only is it used to peddle extended education on the false promise that it will bring people into the blessed state of a self-actualized life, it also peddles socialism. Socialists often talk about needs. From each according to his ability; to each according to his needs.

 By presenting human goals and activities as “needs,” Maslow is saying, “If the needs in the lower part of the hierarchy are met by government, then people will be free to self-actualize. It is scientifically proven that people naturally become moral, creative, unprejudiced problem solvers when their more basic needs are met.”

 This, of course, is ridiculous, as anyone who has ever visited a public housing project knows. It’s another fraud embedded in Maslow’s concept. Maslow should win a prize for packing more falsehood into one concept than any other leftist propagandist.

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