2988: Maslow's Pyramid

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Maslow's Pyramid

Title text: The local police, building inspector, and fire marshal are all contesting my 'safety' assertion, or would be if they could reach me past all the traps.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a PHYSICAL IMPLEMENTATION OF A METAPHORICAL HEURISTIC MODEL - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

Maslow's hierarchy of needs is a psychological model of human needs. It posits that human needs are prioritized from basic physiological requirements to more abstract forms of comfort and happiness. The idea is frequently represented by a pyramid-shaped diagram ("Maslow's Pyramid"), with basic foundational needs near the bottom creating the stability to enable self-actualization at the top, at least in the 'simplified' version. (Although the 'pyramid', really a segmented triangle, is often used to represent this model, Abraham Maslow never actually used such a pyramid to illustrate it.)

In this comic, Cueball has interpreted Maslow's Pyramid too literally, as an actual 3d construction. He attempts to achieve true happiness by physically building a pyramid that resembles this common representation of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, instead of actually attempting to meet the needs within the conceptual pyramid. Cueball complains that the pyramid only fulfills one of the five needs listed on its side: literal safety, plus shelter from the elements. The pyramid is useless for his social and emotional needs: everyone, including Cueball, thinks the pyramid was a poor idea.

The title text indicates that the pyramid probably doesn't meet the safety requirements established by local building codes, even though Cueball feels that it provides him with physical safety. This safety is apparently achieved in part by various traps, which are preventing the authorities from getting into the pyramid to verify compliance or serve him with a notice of non-compliance. Of course, having one's home full of traps that provide that level of deterrence is, of itself, likely to be a violation of laws and building codes.

Transcript

This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.

[Cueball is facing White Hat and Megan and pointing to a giant pyramid modeled after Maslow's hierarchy of needs, with each tier labeled after its need on the pyramid, and a comment next to it in the comic. From top to bottom:]

Self-actualization: [Red X] Honestly questioning my life choices here

Esteem: [Red X] People seem less impressed by it than I hoped

Belonging and Love: [Red X] Friends are worried about me

Safety: [Green Checkmark] Highly defensible

Physiological needs: [Red X] Provides basic shelter but no food, water, heat, etc

[Caption below the panel:]

I built Maslow's pyramid thing, but it's a total ripoff - it's only providing 20% of my needs.

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Discussion

Oh wow, first post! RadiantRainwing (talk) 23:11, 20 September 2024 (UTC)

Congratulations on learning how to post! 172.68.245.228 03:40, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

The 20% figure is incorrect. The lower levels of the pyramid have more volume than the upper levels. By my arithmetic, the breakdown is (rounded) 1%, 6%, 15%, 30%, and 49%, so the "safety" level provides 30% of his needs. Jordan Brown (talk) 00:27, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

Plus the bottom layer ought to get partial credit for supplying basic shelter. Jordan Brown (talk) 00:29, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

I question this Cueball's ability to get anything okay enough. -- 172.70.38.122 (talk) 03:32, 21 September 2024 (please sign your comments with ~~~~)

Seems like he's judging each layer on a pass-fail basis, no partial credit. So the bottom layer fails because it only provides shelter, but no food or water. Like a crypt, which is what the Egyptian pyramids were for. Barmar (talk) 18:19, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

Oh crud. What did I do that I think totally messed up the attributions? 172.68.245.228 172.68.245.228 03:53, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

I think you probably put some ~s in the wrong places? 162.158.41.181 19:01, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

But *how* did he build it? Was there some sort of internal ramp? Were extraterrestrials involved? 172.70.163.48 06:58, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

Couldn't care less. Cueball, I AM impressed. If your friends aren't, you need new friends. 172.71.160.115 07:37, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

I assumed Cueball was trying to meet the needs, inside the pyramid.  :-) Robert Carnegie [email protected] 172.70.160.231 10:49, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

And a pyramid is a very safe building, except for emergency exits.  ;-) (Also traps, but no one asked you in.) But it's not going to fall over. Robert Carnegie [email protected] 172.69.194.227 10:53, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

If you’re going to sign with your full name and email address, why not just set up an account and have that as your automatic signature? 42.book.addict (talk) 01:30, 22 September 2024 (UTC)

It's harder to climb over an inverted pyramid, looking for weak-points. But then it has a weak-point insofar as having to be balanced upon its point, and one of those definitely might fall over... 162.158.33.237 17:29, 21 September 2024 (UTC)

No food or water? He was doing it wrong: Above ground there was a separate chamber for holding food and drink for use by the deceased person in the afterlife. 172.71.170.166 00:50, 22 September 2024 (UTC)