Lower needs, also called physiological, have all living things.
In the vast part of the animals there are higher needs: the need for security, social interactions.
But only a person has spiritual needs, such as the desire to know oneself and the world around, the desire to achieve success in selected areas of knowledge. The spiritual needs of man are one of the key engines of development human society.
What it is?
Needs - The specific needs of a person or animal that must be met to create a sense of comfort, confidence, peace of mind.
Physiological needs are a support for all others, since their lack of satisfaction undermines livelihoods.
According to ideas Abraham Maslow, physiological needs are followed by social ones: the need to communicate, to feel community, to be accepted by others, to be loved and protected. And only after them are spiritual ones.
Spiritual needs are the highest human needs, which can be properly satisfied only if the needs of the lower level are met at least relatively.
What are the? List of spiritual needs:
- the need for cognitive activity;
- the desire to improve themselves, to develop;
- the need to have one or more favorite fields of activity;
- the need to understand the meaning of one’s own existence and to clearly define life goals;
- the need to be realized in certain areas of activity, to become significant, to reveal their capabilities to the full;
- the need to get aesthetic pleasure.
The main problems that prevent a person from fulfilling spiritual needs are dissatisfaction with lower needs mental and physical illness.
Description
If the spiritual needs are not satisfied, the person does not die, his somatic health condition does not suffer, and in some cases this does not affect mental health, especially if the person has various congenital or acquired intellectual deviations.
With this, most people still needs to satisfy spiritual needs in one way or another. What needs can be called spiritual, what applies to them?
Cognitive activity
Even in the Stone Age previously, people sought to understand the world around them, tried to understand how their surroundings work, how one or other phenomena can be explained.
Their conclusions led to the emergence of the first beliefs and superstitions, since the easiest way to explain the origin of everyday people for today's people, but completely inexplicable for ancient phenomena (thunderstorms, fire, rain) is to associate them with the activities of otherworldly forces, gods, spirits, magic.
It is thanks to the desire for cognitive activity of humanity is at the present stage of development and continues to improve.
This need is closely associated with other spiritual needs and is key to achieving important goals for most people.
How to satisfy this need?
It is important for each person to find his own way to knowledge and determine which areas are most interesting to him.
Someone suitable reading books and articles, someone - viewing training videos, visiting sections, circles, courses.
For information to be properly understood and useful, it is important to use it regularly for practical purposes, improve skills.
Self improvement
This need is closely related to the previous, but not in all aspects, since self-improvement includes not only development related to an increase in knowledge and skills, but also intellectual (it is impossible to assess a person’s mind only by the amount of knowledge in memory, there are other criteria), physical, moral.
Under the moral development means improving their views on the world: a person in the process of existence is faced with moral challenges and, solving them, grows spiritually, increases willpower, becomes wiser and more benevolent.
Under high intelligence You can mean a number of different things, such as:
- the ability to quickly and correctly make decisions;
- the ability to quickly find in memory the answers to the right questions;
- high ability to memorize information;
- significant development of different types of thinking;
- the ability to concentrate long and be productive during this time.
And, of course, the presence of a baggage of knowledge and skills. Therefore, speaking of intellectual self-improvement, it makes sense to imply a focus on the development of all these abilities or their parts.
People who regularly engage in various physical activities are, on average, healthier (with the exception of professional athletes) and live longer.
Also, physical activity has a positive effect on mental health.
How to satisfy this need? They can help to satisfy the need for moral self-improvement, quality books, films, series, games.
It is also important to bravely face difficulties in order to gain moral experience.
To become stronger and smarter, it is important to regularly devote time to self-development: to train, to study scientific publications, to apply the skills associated with the active use of thinking, to practice and so on.
Realization in labor activity
Most people strive to achieve more in the activities that are engaged.
This activity can be both work and hobby.
Not everyone has the opportunity to earn money by doing that job, which causes warm feelingstherefore, a significant proportion of people are forced to work in areas that they don’t like too much.
In such cases, the need to be realized through work can decrease, and a person can try to compensate for this with a hobby.
Realization is important in terms of satisfying not only spiritual, but also social needs: if you are appreciated in the workplace, you will have friends, a sense of community, security.
In the process of achieving work goals, a person cultivates himself, acquires new skills and knowledge, begins to feel his own significance, better understands what he wants from life.
How to satisfy this need? Give the work as much time and effort as you can, but at the same time make sure that your mental and physical health does not suffer.
Try to learn more about the area in which you work, increase your own competence, communicate with experienced colleagues, develop cognitive abilities.
Satisfying aesthetic feelings
The desire to be in beautiful interiors, to admire the beauty of the world and to communicate with people attractive from the point of view of society extremely developed in humans.
Also, aesthetic feelings and the desire to please others are pushing people to correct their own appearance with the help of cosmetics, jewelry, clothes, physical activity and even plastic surgery.
In a person for a long time in a monotonous settingdeprived of attractive elements from his point of view increases the likelihood of developing depression.
How to satisfy this need? Enjoy artistic content - movies, paintings, visit museums, exhibitions, study art.
Frequently walk in the fresh air and in the process of walking take a closer look at the different elements of the natural world. Keep your home and your body clean and tidy.
The need to find the meaning of life
Philosophical questions often plagued people, especially those who are in crisis periods. From time to time everyone may feel the need rethink your own life and find new goals.
This is an important process, and if a person does not find the answers that suit him, he may experience internal conflicts, mental illness.
How to satisfy this need?
It is important to be able to listen to yourself, analyze the life situation, ask the right questions in the process of reasoning.
It is also worth remembering that the meaning of life is not obliged to be global, any goals are important and significant.
How are they formed?
The process of forming spiritual needs is influenced by a number of factors, such as:
- Family. Parents are the first people with whom the child actively contacts. Their ideas about norms, needs and values will affect him.
- Society. In society, ideas about the values of each person should be formed long ago.
Some would call some of them controversial, but the influence of society is extremely great, and most people unconsciously adjust to the requirements.
- Friends, colleagues. When a person gets older, a wider circle of people begins to influence him.
- The state of mental and physical health. In a seriously ill person, the perceptions of needs may differ from those that are present in a healthy person. And people with significant intellectual defects in principle may not have pronounced spiritual needs.
- Education. Much depends on its quality and availability, as well as on the competence of teachers and management.
Spiritual needs begin to form. still in early childhood.
Difference from material
The table of basic differences:
| Spiritual | Material |
| It feels like something without which it can be done, unless the quality of life is partially affected. | Feels like they are needed. |
| Rarely focused on obtaining benefits (such a goal may be, but usually it does not come first), first of all, a person needs to achieve harmony, happiness, deep satisfaction. | Receiving benefits is usually a priority. |
| Aim to achieve psychological comfort. | Focused on getting comfort for the body (clothing, food, shelter, physical security). |
Examples of satisfaction
Examples of satisfying spiritual needs include any situation where a person strives for knowledge, self-development for the sake of pleasure and harmonyrather than for direct gain.
- Example 1 Sergey works as a welder, and he is completely satisfied with his earnings. At the same time, in his free time, he is studying the exact sciences with interest and plans to enter the university in order to learn more about the area that interests him and to get an opportunity to be realized in activities that he likes more.
- Example 2 Svetlana is a kindergarten teacher who is extremely passionate about her field of activity. She is actively studying age psychology and pedagogy, devotes a lot of time to writing lesson plans and does her best to keep children happy, satisfied and actively developing.
Despite the fact that spiritual needs do not look like something urgently needed, they help a person keep mental balance, actively develop and feel happier, calmer, more significant.
About spiritual human needs in this video:
