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What theWorld
Needs
NOW ..
Psychologists, psychiatrists and other learned men are now coming to the sarrie conclusions
through study and observation which Jesus Christ first gave man by revelation nearly two
thousand years ago.
rom the moment of
birth we cry out for the
satisfaction of our phys–
ical and psychological
needs. We want to be
fed. We want to feel
comfortable and secure.
We want to be loved and cared for.
When, as babes, we don't get what
we want, we demand it with a good
healthy cry. Mother hears, and
comes to our rescue.
Time passes and we grow up. Yet
our basic needs do not change from
infancy through adulthood. Psychia–
trist and author William Glasser
states: " o one seriously disputes
that in all cultures and in all degrees
of civilization men have the same es–
sentía! nceds.
It
is also generally ac–
cepted that needs do not vary with
age, sex, or race. A Chinese infant
girl has the same needs as a Swedish
king"
(Reality Therapy,
p. 9).
Why People Do What They Do
lt is obvious that our most basic need
is for food and water. l f this need
isn't met we will soon die of starva–
tion. However, there are yet other
hungers in man which , if not satis–
fied, will also cause serious problems
and eventual death.
18
by
David Carley
Human beings not only have phys–
ical hungers which must be satisfied,
but mental hungers which must be
fed in order to stay healthy and alive.
For centuries philosophers and reli–
gionists have observed these mental
hungers and have speculated on ex–
actly what they are and the best way
to satisfy them. Within the last cen–
tury a whole new "science" has been
born in an attempt to understand hu–
man needs- psychology or the
science of human behavior.
Since the dawn of time man has
been a mystery to himself, a paradox,
a study in contradictions. He !oves
and yet at the same time kills. He
builds and destroys. He craves ex–
citement and the unknown and yet
grasps for security. His pursuit to
satisfy his dcsires can lead to great
destruction as well as great achieve–
ments. What is it that drives him to
try to conquer the world or to sail
uncharted waters? Why does he
want to run the fastest mile, climb
the tallest mountain, or set foot on
the moon?
It is said that after Alexander the
Great had led his Macedonian army
in conquering the world, he wept be–
cause there were no more armies and
nations to conquer. With the world at
his feet he still wanted something
more.
In all of man's pursuits there is
within him a vacuum that has not
and cannot be filled by any earthly
endeavor.
What ls Missing
Dr. Robert Ardrey explained man's
search this way: " I feel a restiveness
in men.
It
is a dissatisfaction of a
universal sort. ... lts outlets are fre-
quently senseless ...."
It
is like "the
hunger of a man who opens the re–
frigerator door, finds nothing that he
really wants, and closing the door
goes back to bed"
(The Territorial
lmperative,
p.
321).
What is the missing food man is
looking for in the refrigerator of life
which would satisfy bis seemingly in–
satiable hunger? Sigmund Freud
thought that everything you and I
hunger for could be explained in
terms of two basic needs: the sex urge
and the desire to be great. American
philosopher . John Dewey said the
deepest urge in human nature is "the
desire to be important." William
J ames believed that "the deepest
principie in human nature is the
craving to be appreciated." Alfred
Adler postulated that it is man's need
for power that explains his actions.
Víctor Frankcl believed that the de–
sire for meaning and purpose in life is
man's most basic hunger.
The
PLAIN TRUTH