花开花落

工作是无聊的！工作到底有多无聊：请看我在工作时产生过的想法。我居然能够在下午写出一篇小论文来。

 

A Debate about Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Author: Lucia Gao

 

Maslow’s theory about needs of human beings has been widely accepted in various fields range from psychology to human resource management. The core content of his theory is that the needs of human beings are comprised in many different levels. The upper level will only be pursued if the lower level is satisfied. Further more, he categorized needs into 5 levels. The lowest level is denoted as the basic physical needs such as food, shelter and sex. Up on the 2^nd level lies with the needs of safety. The middle level is usually called ‘Love’ and some interpret it as the need of feeling belongingness. The fourth level is called self-esteem, usually interpreted as the feeling of deserve what one has achieved. The highest level is labeled as self-actualization. It is about being what one can be and achieve the ultimate purpose of life. The theory is logically sound and may appear intuitive to some extent. However, like many other theories, it suffers from the lack of evidence and renders it problematic. This paper is not written with much academic background research and is not intended to seek an answer about the truth of needs and to what extent that Maslow’s theory is correct. It is just an article about what I experienced in my every day life in my internship here, which may illustrate a little bit about the application of Maslow’s theory and the conflict in the theory itself.

 

Today, one gentleman came up on me and registered for the purchase of RMB with foreign currencies. This is what I do every day and a boring task to do. Anyway, this job has reinforced me to believe that I will not work in such an organization but to create my own business in the future. Back to our topic, this gentleman asked me what is the qualification to be an employee here. I am not clear about that and mentioned it is a boring job anyway. He did not agree my statement and replaced the word ‘boring’ with ‘relaxing and comforting’. After he left, I thought about it and realized it is quite an interesting phenomenon in our every day life and worth to have a discussion about it. Although I do not know what the gentleman’s job is and whether he really envies my job, some persons seem to believe that there is no need to achieve too much in the life. Stay in the lower part in the pyramid may be satisfactory enough for these kinds of people and this situation is not negative for our society. As the Chinese saying a few decades ago, being a simple bolt in a big machine is worth to be proud of.

 

Thus, the first point of this debate is that the theory is flaws if it is judged in different cultures. The culture dimensions studied by the scholars such as Hiefiled may provide us with some insights of this phenomenon. The oriental culture is considered to value the achievement of a group or a family more than the achievement of individuals. Thus, what the westerners define as self-actualization may be just considered as rebellious in the eastern culture and for the people who live in the culture that value the achievement of a group, there is no such thing as self-actualization, but only group-actualization or family-actualization.   

 

Secondly, the theory is to some extent in conflict if the needs are carefully examined. The needs of pursuing for self-actualization may put the needs of safety in danger. Being an entrepreneur may require an individual to quit the job that provides him/her with relaxing and comforting life and to start with an adventurous and challenging journey. According to Maslow’s theory, if this conflict does occur, one cannot pursue the needs of self-actualization and will remain in the level of being safe. However, the case in the real life does not conform to the theory. Not every business owner was pushed to become one because they can not satisfy the need of safety just as not every entrepreneur remains to feel safe after they quit their job. Yet they choose to start their own business whatsoever. Some theories may explain this part of the phenomenon.

 

The author of ‘Poor Dad, Rich Dad’ once claimed that the only safety in one’s financial way to the freedom is through the acquirement of assets and assets are defined as the property that can bring continuous cash flow to the individual. He claimed that since the risk of losing a job in contemporary is very high, it is impossible to be safe if one is only rely on the salary. If this is the case, the people who start the business themselves merely chose to do so because they feel safe through the ownership of a business. Thus, it conforms to the theory of hierarchy of needs.

 

Meanwhile, another kind of theory popular in the financial textbook may explain the situation. The investment psychologist categorized people into 3 types, namely risk lover, risk neuture and risk aversion. Although it is believed that people are generally risk aversion, the existence of risk lovers cannot be denied. If this is the case, entrepreneurs are merely another type of gamblers who seek the extra benefit with a higher risk.

 

Once again, it is necessary to note here that this paper is not mean to give or even explore answers but only to raise questions and give some ideas about the theory of hierarchy of needs. To conclude, the theory of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, although widely adopted, is far from perfect and need to be considered more deeply. Different viewpoints are needed when examine the flaws of this theory.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

很久很久都没有在这里留下过什么文字了，因为说过这是我自己的小屋，记载自己的小心情，所以不关心有没有人看，想写的话就写一点吧。于是今天就莫名其妙的想写一点东西。

 

放假了，代表大学生活已经过去了三年。前几天见证了一场自娱自乐性的毕业舞会，和一个纠结了很久的人告别。然后就是各奔东西了吧。说实话没有什么感伤，有的只是感慨。既然天下无不散之筵席，那么筵席上的种种才是最重要的吧。三年来我改变了多少，又维持了多少原貌，认识了一些精彩的人物，心里留下了一些难忘的回忆，总之，也算得上“精彩”二字。

 

如果说有什么是和以前期待的不一样的，答案是：什么都不一样。

三年前高考的那个时候也许也期待过大学生活把，不过从不曾想过会是现在这个样子，我以为会有更多的朋友，我以为会有一段甚至几段稳定而又平常的感情，可是结果很不一样。所以，我们不用期待那么多，因为结果往往不一样。

 

有的朋友说我活得很洒脱，老实说，很多朋友对我的评价都是如此。姑且不论是福是祸，但总算是过得比较幸福了。即使朋友不多，即使没有爱情，但至少还留着幻想、奋斗的精神、感知美的能力，我已十分幸运了。

最近一段时间，我总有一种强烈的被什么人玩弄了的感觉。其实这么说很奇怪，但我就是坚定不移的觉得，我们都是被某种看不见摸不着的力量所控制了，生命的轨迹其实早已被画下，只是没人看得着，即使看过了，也会马上被改变。这其实涉及到一点物理知识，叫做random walk的模型，那么，我觉得我们的人生选择，人生境遇，最接近于这种模型，就好像股票市场一样。

 

我承认，最近一段时间我对生死的问题有了比往常更多的思考，无可置疑的是因为我的一个亲人在前段日子离开了我。不过，我一直以来在这个问题上的多多少少的纠结终于起到了一定的成效，那便是一种态度的选择，一种信仰的维持。好吧，如果说我也有信仰的话。五一回家的时候，我的心情起落很多，但是总觉得明白了很多事，但是具体的东西却不能用语言记述。

 

我的梦更加莫名其妙的频繁，有些不失之有趣。比如说前段日子梦见自己变成一只会飞会喷火的龙。生活于我来说好像有些静止，我似乎很安于现状，吃饭、看书、睡眠、做梦，看的是浮生百态、梦的是生生死死。这段日子很奇特，可以说是少有的平静，却似乎缺少了的激情让我觉得所处的世界是那么的不真实。思考很多，作为很少。真是应了那句古话，“思而不学则惘”，我的确是越发的迷惘了。

 

最后应题，我这段日子的总结就是：就这样吧。

如题，我就是个俗人，明白的道理做不到，想要想明白的始终不明白。

 

 

春天真的是充满希望的季节啊。

 

看着校园里那些内绿色的枝丫和粉红的桃花，和校园外那大片大片的油菜花，什么烦恼的事情都会被抛诸脑后。

 

我第一次意识到我们的校园原来这么的漂亮！记得去年在UBC的日子里见识过的美景：那种参天的松树、无边的蓝色海洋和远处若隐若现的雪山，曾经美得让我陶醉。

可原来，世界处处都充满着奇妙的景色。我们真应该感激我们依然拥有健康以及感知美的能力，能让我们的生命如此神奇的进行下去。

人常说，文如其人；那么也许这里的文字，就勾勒了我的性格，我的思想。

 

前段时间是杂乱的，充斥着无止息的欲求，但都以落寞失败而收场，所以便额外的混乱。

也有一个人浸淫在古书里的时候，那个时候看的是阴阳五行，感到的是久远的文化冲击。原来，喜怒伤气，寒暑伤形，中医讲求的道即是中庸。突然感觉到这个世界真的是很奇妙：历史总在重演，几千年前的东西可以在如今复兴。

 

再说说生活中的小事：说明白了就是那个样子。因果报应，宿命轮回，似乎永无止息。而人们却心甘情愿的纷纷沉沦：或为名利、或为情爱、或为某种信仰。可是究其所以然，又是为了什么？佛说：“色即是空”，有形便是无形。那么，后半句呢，“空即是色”，果然说得很妙！看世界上的纷纷绕绕，红尘万丈，到最后究竟有谁能够明白，能够找到自己？

 

 

也许生活本来就应该是这样的，就好像粒子本来就是随即漫步，你永远不可能知道它将去向何方．

 

开始学习黄帝内经，开始明白原来有些事情是不可强求的，算是很大程度上的一种解脱吧．

 

渐渐喜欢上了图书馆，很奇怪！