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From: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Re: wants vs needs, luxury vs necessity
Message-ID: <657@ttidcc.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 9-Aug-85 14:00:36 EDT
Article-I.D.: ttidcc.657
Posted: Fri Aug  9 14:00:36 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 12-Aug-85 02:28:59 EDT
References: <735@lll-crg.ARPA> <1742@reed.UUCP> <765@lll-crg.ARPA> <642@ttidcc.UUCP> <774@lll-crg.ARPA>
Reply-To: hollombe@ttidcc.UUCP (The Polymath)
Distribution: net
Organization: The Cat Factory
Lines: 45
Summary: 

In article <774@lll-crg.ARPA> bandy@lll-crg.UUCP (Andrew Scott Beals) writes:
>You know what?  Sometimes I just plain forget that if it's written down in
>a book or if somebody does research about it then it's right! ...

If you choose to ignore the scientific literature on the subject then we're
reduced  to  shouting  opinions  at  each  other.  I'm the first to concede
you're entitled to any opinion you want to hold so long as you label it  as
such.

>Do you think it's the Right Thing for people to be unhappy when they don't
>get this "needed" love and acceptance?  Or to be unhappy when they can't
>(or don't) get the physical affection they want?

Do you think it's the Right Thing for people to be unhappy if they have  to
live on half a cup of grain a day?  They're alive, aren't they?  They don't
_need_ any more to survive.  Of course, all those diseases of  malnutrition
are something of a nuisance ...

In the same sense both humans and monkeys can survive without affection and
love.  What  Harlow  et  al.  showed was that insufficient affection has as
devastating an effect on the mind as malnutrition has on the body.

>By calling this a Need, you have the situation where people think they
>can demand that they get their "quota", thereby placing unnecessary
>pressures on others.  Also, because they Know it is a Need, they feel
>justified at getting upset/angry with others (or themselves) because
>they don't do "their part" at helping to fill this Need.

The fallacy here is the implicit idea that one is somehow  responsible  for
fulfilling  others'  needs and should feel guilty if one fails to do so.  I
learned to (diplomatically) say "No" years ago.

People can make demands for anything they  think  they  want  or  need  and
frequently  do.  They also get angry when these demands aren't met and find
ways to pressure others.  Academically defining something as a want or need
isn't  going  to change this. (Try explaining to a hijacker that he doesn't
really _need_ to get his friends out of jail).

-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
The Polymath (aka: Jerry Hollombe)
Citicorp TTI                      Common Sense is what tells you that a ten
3100 Ocean Park Blvd.             pound weight falls ten times as fast as a
Santa Monica, CA  90405           one pound weight.
(213) 450-9111, ext. 2483
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