Self worth / ego

[Blowtus]

Maslow's heirachy has always stuck quite strongly in my mind - the notion that as humans we have 'levels of need / desire' - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

Without getting bogged down in too much debate over the validity of distinct levels etc, (nor the likely fact that many philosophers likely covered similar ground much earlier) the main reason it struck me is that it seems so clear just how many people are living out their lives chasing some form of validity, self worth, etc. (the 4th level according to Maslow) So many actions (as I see them) are motivated purely by the drive to further ones own self esteem. In a society that places so much value on the individual - do we effectively limit the fulfilment of this need? When anything we do can be written off as an expression of individuality, without distinct 'right and wrong', can one feel worthwhile? In what sense can one be worthwhile? Does / would a 'higher purpose' grant us further capacity to fulfil this need and 'move on' as people? Or would it simply direct this need in a broader direction than simply 'the self'?

 

[Seditious]

most people I know get self-worth out of making money and banging women and winning fights. 'the fulfilment of this need' isn't at all limited for them as it might be for someone whose self-worth is sought through being pious or inventing a cure for cancer.

 

[Blowtus]

Do they actually find it though? That question is at the heart of the matter. The people I see seem to be forever stuck in the cycle you speak of, but it doesn't seem to achieve it for them, so they keep at it, being the only path they know / see...

 

[Seditious]

Do they actually find it though? That question is at the heart of the matter. The people I see seem to be forever stuck in the cycle you speak of, but it doesn't seem to achieve it for them, so they keep at it, being the only path they know / see...

like Spinoza, I don't believe such a thing is to be found. I don't believe you search, find, and then rest in peace til you die. like finding orgasm, you don't find it and then you're satisfied for the rest of your life, you find it, but it's still finite and needs to be found again. Same with self-worth issues, perhaps because it's not just about self-worth but also intertwined with actually passing one's own time satisfactorally. (even if you cure cancer, in a decade you'll question your self-worth thinking 'what am I -now- worth, now that I've done all I could' and the whole problem starts anew). So the both 'actually find it' but what 'it' is isn't what some people wish existed---something inexhaustable and evernew.