431. Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs And The Pleasure Center In The Brain

Maslow's Hierarchy Of Needs And The Pleasure Center In The Brain
 

In the entries 388 and 389 I mentioned the need for homeostasis and the stimulation of the pleasure center in the brain together as the major motivational force leading to behavior.       

But the pleasure center is not independent from dishomeostasis.  The urge toward homeostation can block, filter, reduce, modify the amount and kind of stimulation, the reaches or impacts the pleasure center.    The pleasure center is fully open to be stimulated only in the state of complete homeostasis.   

Dishomeostasis overriding the pleasure center can be:

• Survival needs for food, air, security etc.
• Non-vital instincts like sexuality.
• Unpleasantness and discomfort like a headache or heat.
• Craving due to an addiction like alcoholism.
• Emotional pain due to inappropriate and inadequate treatment like a betrayal.
• Acquired cravings as a result of mental and emotional problems like a narcissist's craving for adulation.  

Maslow in his hierarchy of needs calls those needs, which cause dishomeostasis, deficit needs.  My concept of dishomeostasis is roughly in accordance with Maslow's hierarchy of needs.    But Maslow has based his concept upon the implicit assumption of a general applicability of his model on all people. 
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/maslow.html
 

Concerning what happens, when there is homeostasis of all the deficit needs, my own speculations are different from Maslow's hierarchy.   I disagree with his simple suggestion of self-actualization as the general top need in his hierarchy.   Instead I consider the top of the hierarchy as being determined by the specific qualities of the pleasure center.  Self-actualization is one but not the only option.       

I have speculated before, that the kind of sensitivity of the pleasure center is distributed as a bell curve.   At one end are those people, whose hedonistic pleasure center is predominantly sensitive, perceptive and responsive to physical stimulation.   At the other end, emotional, intellectual, immaterial stimulation has more impact upon the epicurean pleasure center.   I further speculate, that the subjective relative magnitude of suffering from either physical or emotional dishomeostasis is influenced by the same predisposition. 

Therefore only under strong physical dishomeostasis, the behavior of all people is motivated by the same urge to restore homeostasis as follows Maslow hierarchy.   But under lesser or no dishomeostasis, there will be different hierarchies of motivation due to individual differences in the perceived pressure of needs.   Only the predominantly Epicureans are motivated to strive for Maslow's self-actualization, because this is what stimulates their pleasure center.   Hedonists are only attracted to seek physical pleasures and self-actualizing behaviors do not stimulate their pleasure center.