FUTURLOGICS authored by james n. hall copyright February 1983 and 2013
Ahraham Maslow asserted that asking people about their "philosophy of
the future" will reveal which needs are not being satisfied. The study
uses the elites of society to form the bases for his theories and not the
less fortunate in lifes lottery.
The List as below is often attributed to Abraham Maslow:
Physiological needs
Safety needs
Love/Belonging needs
Esteem needs
Self-actualization
Self-transcendence
or (depends upon value perspective)
Self-transcendence
Self-actualization
Esteem needs
Love/Belonging needs
Safety needs
Physiological needs
Interesting as this list is, the only relevant reference that is intriguing
is, the reference to the "Philosophy of the Future" as below quoted from
Abraham Maslow:
Another peculiar characteristic of the human organism when it is dominated by a certain need, is that the whole philosophy of the future tends also to change. For our chronically and extremely hungry man, Utopia can be defined simply as a place where there is plenty of food. He tends to think that, if only he is guaranteed food for the rest of his life, he will be perfectly happy and will never want anything more. Life itself tends to be defined in terms of eating. Anything else will be defined as unimportant. Freedom, love, community feeling, respect, philosophy, may all be waved -aside as fripperies that are useless, since they fail to fill the stomach. Such a man may fairly be said to live by bread alone. Abraham Maslow
What Abraham is referring to here is the origin of the Artificial Future of
Futurlogics. That needs, color or distort, the view of the future. It must
also be realized that needs are rooted in the physical life support
requirements. If man above eats and then is ask about the future, there
would be different results. Maslow's utopia of the future would change as
he is supposing the person is constantly hungry. People who eat regularly
will have a different future. Perhaps the concern for safety would be the
"forming influence" for the next utopian future. And as each need above is
satisfied, so would the future utopia also change. Even Abraham acknowledges
the need of self-transcendence. Would not self-transcendence be the means
to transcendence each level of his list or heirarchy.
Note: 2013 December: Abraham has defined that the "future" seen is defined
in terms of his hiearchy list or in other words there will be six levels
to the "futures" seen through the lens/prism of the defined levels. Or six
distinct future levels. Namely:
Physiological needs future(s)
Safety needs future(s)
Love/Belonging needs future(s)
Esteem needs future(s)
Self-actualization future(s)
Self-transcendence future(s)
Self trancendence suggest that something more than the brain or the body
will be working like a need, to shape and define or discover a future! The
Paradigm Shift, Lift, Gift in Futurlogics or stabilization in the new mode
of the philosophy of the future comes to view here.
Quote from FUTURLOGICS:
Every organ of the body hues and tenors the behavior and thoughts of man.
The brain is an organ containing a force to act also in itself, consisting of
feelings, sentiments, will, and the higher emotions of love, trust, giving,
etc.. These higher motives do not always work in harmony with the appetites
of the body, and discordance produces the conflicting drives of fatigue or
guilt. The artificial future is shaped and generated from this interaction.
End Quote from FUTURLOGICS
The Artificial Future can be need driven. All assumptions based upon
physical drives and emotional drive create the Artificial future
Jesus ask us to "Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow
shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day [is]
the evil thereof". Here the idea is perhaps that thought of the needs of
the morrow will distort your view of the future and the kingdom. Some
times the meaning of morrow is referenced as the morning. I see that often
a good nights sleep will present itself with the solutions of concerns that
will perplex one. It is ok to charge ones mind with these worries or
problems as long a a respite is allowed to occur so time for creativity can
find it's expression.
Mathew Chapter 6
25 q Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life,
what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body,
what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the
body than raiment?
Matthew 6:34
34 Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow
shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the
day [is] the evil thereof.
The chapter in Futurlogics on Waiting will clarify that waiting on present
needs will clear the head to see the day beyond the sufficient day mentioned
above.
Somethings are best discussed after a good meal.
Quote from FUTURLOGICS:
We can put off drives and wants and needs for varying lengths of
time--some extended beyond the life span. All this shapes our individual
artificial futures. The greater our control of the drives that move
us to act, the easier it is to see the artificial nature of these "futures."
In ancient days, prophets fasted to learn of the future. This may be
described in the terminology of this book as subduing the artificial
future in order to make it easier to learn what will truly happen. If we
remove the causes of the false future we can think more clearly and
wait for the truth. The value systems of men, indeed, there very
consciences, spur them to action. The conscience has been traditionally
at war with the body's needs. Fasting will allow the artificial future
opposed by the conscience to attenuate. This denial may have been the
genesis of the world's religions, since they mainly deal with the future
as "afterlife" ignoring personal needs which cause assumptions.
End Quote from FUTURLOGICS
Maslow's Self-transcendence is possibly seen as perhaps the reach for religion
as a need or a view of the future with the preview of the SELF you wish
to be. This is akin to 'visioning' as used in futuristics techniques. If
determining the 'philosophy of the future' as a research tool to detect
need hierarchy, then FUTURLOGICS a system of prospective thinking will
reveal the mind by a research of the future as it advances the thoughts to
higher and higher levels as abstraction. Maslow was on to something but did
not carry it far enough.
Text to read on levels of thinking abstraction by Benjamin Bloom
Man is the final unit of measure and is the fractile of the Universe.