WE ARE NOT FAR REMOVED FROM THE JUNGLE

Last week I had the privilege again of presenting the second module in the Neuro-Semantic Self- Actualization Training, Unleashing Potentials. I also had the privilege of speaking to the MCF (Meta-Coach Foundation) chapter in Mexico City on Neuro-Semantics and Self-Actualization. During both events, I repeated a few times that “We are not far removed from the Jungle...” Living in “the jungle” was Abraham Maslow’s expression of living solely and exclusively at the lower levels and behaving as if were are only animals— as if all of our needs are completely satisfied by the deficiency needs.

Living in the jungle refers to making the lower needs the sole purpose of life. It is behaving as if there is not a higher drive within us as human beings. Living by that premise as a manager or leader is what Douglas McGregor labeled Theory X of management and leadership (The Human Enterprise, 1960).

To what degree are we still living “in the jungle?” To what degree does modern advertising, marketing, education, government, etc. operate as if that’s all there is?

I think the percentage would be very high. At the same time that I was speaking about these things, ISIS in Iraq is demonstrating genicide as they are slaughtering thousands of people and beheading people because they will not convert to their fanatical and fundamentalistic version of Islam. Putin in Russia is supporting his rebels in Ukraine fighting to gain control of cities and land that do not belong to him. In the USA, in Ferguson, Missouri, mobs of people have been looting and burning down stores in protest over the shooting death of a young man. Three activities this week that indicate that we are indeed not far removed from the Jungle! In fact, looking at these and many, many similar events— it seems that much of the human race is very much living in the jungle.

What does “living in the jungle” mean? It means that we humans seem to quickly and easily fall back to using violence when we don’t get our way. It means we are quick to dismiss “law and order” and using peaceful means for resolving conflicts, and if things don’t go our way—we are ready to loot stores, throw stones, throw burning bottles full of gasoline, beat up people, shot, knife, kill, massacre those who disagree, etc.

Why is this? Because we quickly assume and live by the laws of the jungle: “Whatever you have deprives me.” “Your success means my failure.” So we live by competition. To win or succeed in life is a matter of the survival of the strongest or smartest or cruelest. That’s the Jungle. In business, it is doing what you have to do even if it is unethical or even illegal to get what you want and to sign off with “It’s not personal, it’s business.”

Yet the Self-Actualization Psychology of Maslow and Rogers says that there is a higher dimension—the human dimension. They started from a very different premise as they postulated that there is within every human being a drive for the higher needs, a self-actualization drive for the uniquely human drives: knowledge, meaning, justice, equality, beauty, music, order, giving love, excellence, contribution, making a difference, etc. These self-actualization needs or drives are within all, but have to be identified and developed.

Maslow called these the Being-needs. Why? What did he mean by that? The being-needs contrast with the instrumental needs, namely, the lower needs. Yes, we need the Survival needs for air, water, food, shelter, sleep, sex, money, etc. Yes we need the Safety needs for stability, protecting, order, control, power, etc. Yes we need the Social needs for love and affection, for connection, bonding, relating, inter-personal relationships, etc. Yes we need the Self needs for a sense of value, importance, worth and recognition. Yet all of these are instrumental needs— we need them as a means to be healthy physically, socially, personally, and psychologically. These are not end needs, but needs that are a means to an end— to growth and health.

The being-needs are different. They are end values. They are valuable and worthwhile in and of themselves. That’s because we are made for these needs and these higher level needs enable us to transcend the jungle. Life in the jungle is cruel, competitive, and ruthless. It is all about getting. Life in the being-realm, while having a good foundation of the deficiency needs, is about giving. It is about being your best self, finding and living your passion, and giving of your best. It’s about giving your knowledge, inspirational meanings, your music, beauty, excellence, justice, etc.

Yet we distort and corrupt healthy self-actualization by seeking to gratify our self-actualization needs by using jungle tactics. Just as you can’t lie, cheat, and steal your way to truth, justice, and equality, you can’t use violence and force to get collaboration and democracy. While sometimes self- actualization is presented in a way that makes it unrelated to everyday life, the way Maslow and Rogers presented it, it is exceptionally pragmatic and fits the world as it is.

To ISIS— get beyond the primitive thinking that confuses your map with the territory! Discover the peaceful message of the Koran so you can love people and accept them even if you disagree with them. Get out of the jungle of killing people in the name of God! To Putin, go home and focus on raising the quality of life in Russia—give up the need to re-establish the old Soviet Union and be a visionary leader for bringing equality and justice to the Russian people. To the people of Ferguson Missouri— don’t create a context where more injustice is done in the name of justice. Rediscover the power of non-violent protest by creating a culture of personal empowerment and responsibility rather than a culture of blame and victimhood.

These and a thousand other political contexts are crying out for the message of the higher human needs so that we as a race— the human race— can get out of the Jungle!