As the Income Explosion drives whole populations up Maslow's hierarchy, cultures will begin, with values, customs, norms and institutions, etc., to emphasize matters of esteem, personal development, spirituality, social justice and self actualization. This will completely transform not just their perspective, but also their behaviors, their purchasing patterns, their social affiliations and their attitudes toward career and family.
Complicating the situation for anyone who needs to rely on future attitudes and behaviors is that the breadth of human expression will be far greater in a finely crafted life world than it was in the more materialistic, 'American Dream' world. The problem begins with clear indications that, at present, we are not even sure what we are talking about.
While there is great disagreement over exactly what self-actualization means, it seems that people universally see it as something good. Below are a few of the many statements made about the self-actualized person.
- Self actualized people "can accept their own human nature in the stoic style, with all its shortcomings, are similarly accepting of others, and generally lack prejudice.
- Acceptance and Realism: Self-actualized people have realistic perceptions of themselves, others and the world around them. Self-actualized people possess a sense of realism. Rather than being fearful of things that are different or unknown, the self-actualized individual is able to view things logically and rationally.
- Problem-centering: Self-actualized individuals are concerned with solving problems outside of themselves, including helping others and finding solutions to problems in the external world. Self-actualized individuals are often motivated by a strong sense of personal ethics and responsibility. They enjoy solving real-world problems and are often concerned with helping other people improve their own lives.
- Spontaneity: Self-actualized people are spontaneous in their internal thoughts and outward behavior. While they can conform to rules and social expectations, they also tend to be open and unconventional.
- Autonomy and Solitude: Another characteristic of self-actualized people is the need for independence and privacy. While they enjoy the company of others, these individuals need time to focus on developing their own individual potential. The self-actualized individual does not conform to other people's ideas of happiness or contentment. This original perspective allows the individual to live in the moment and appreciate the beauty of each experience.
- Continued Freshness of Appreciation: Self-actualized people tend to view the world with a continual sense of appreciation, wonder and awe. Even simple experiences continue to be a source of inspiration and pleasure.
- Self-actualization is also characterized by having frequent peak experiences. What exactly is a peak experience? According to Maslow, these "Feelings of limitless horizons opening up to the vision, the feeling of being simultaneously more powerful and also more helpless than one ever was before, the feeling of ecstasy and wonder and awe, the loss of placement in time and space with, finally, the conviction that something extremely important and valuable had happened, so that the subject was to some extent transformed and strengthened even in his daily life by such experiences."
- A Philosophical Sense of Humor: Self-actualized individuals generally have a thoughtful sense of humor. They are able to enjoy the humor in situations and laugh at themselves, but they do not ridicule or make fun at the expense of another person's feelings.
While satisfying to individuals seeking to assign the mantle of self-actualized person to themselves, it lacks precision and rational support. So, for our purposes, which require greater precision and clarity, we define self-actualization as the process of creating life experiences and circumstances that are proper expressions of one’s unique manifestation of human potential rather than those dictated by necessity or the expectations of others. Such a definition properly frees us from the categorical statements so frequently made with regard to self-actualization by the ideologically driven.
In this definition, depending upon the character, interests, culture and moral values of an individual, varying combinations of the previous traits may or may not define self actualization for that person. This places a large measure of responsibility, even within clearly defined cultural communities, upon the individual to create a personally relevant definition. So, from a purely practical perspective, a methodology for determining what self-actualization means for each individual is required.
The analysis of a pursuit of a finely crafted life is a distinctly Information Age way of thinking and, as such, is far from fully developed or even well explored. We begin with the concept that life is experienced through various modalities. An identification and description of these modalities, however, is intrinsically difficult. The human spirit and motivational suite is a spectrum, not a set of discreet factors. Yet, as a rainbow is a spectrum but is perceived to be comprised of distinct colors, the notion of experiential modalities also can be usefully segmented. We propose a preliminary list, in alphabetical order, as follows:
- Aesthetic
- Creative
- Intellectual
- Kinesthetic
- Procreative
- Productive
- Sensual
- Social
- Spiritual
- Status or external acceptance.
Because it is preliminary and, to a degree, arbitrary, we expect that others will create somewhat different lists. One could go so far as saying that creating one's own list is the first step in achieving self-actualization, itself. Having said that, this list is useful for elaborating on the concept.
Each person, based upon their unique character, has a specific preference as to the degree of each modality they wish to experience in their life. The structural analysis of these modalities and one’s sense of self-actualization are inextricably linked. A modality that is under-experienced contributes to a person’s sense that they are, in some significant way, remaining unfulfilled. When a modality is over-experienced a person may feel stressed or harried. When this happens a person frequently will say that they feel like they aren’t leading the life that they are meant to lead or more succinctly, they feel unfulfilled.
On the other hand, a balance between actual and preferred modalities creates a sense of self-actualization and a feeling that one’s life experiences are personally appropriate. In other words, the person with a finely crafted life feels that they are prosecuting it in a way that expresses their uniqueness. In the Information Age, affluence will be defined, not simply by financial wherewithal, but by the degree to which one's life reflects ones own abilities, interests and personality. In other words, affluent people will be self-aware and will have created for themselves a Finely Crafted Life.
In the Industrial Age, with prevailing incomes, even in the developed world, barely sufficient to meet the bottom levels of Maslow's Hierarchy, nearly all people's lives were unbalanced with a substantial over experiencing of the productive modality. Even with that, often the other modalities were under-experienced due to insufficient consumptive rights (income).
So, as incomes explode over the next thirty years, many people will likely spend part of their financial affluence to reduce the degree to which they engage in their primary productive activity. At the same time, they will have the financial resources to indulge in activities that may enhance their aesthetic experiences or their creative experiences or their social experiences.
Clearly, this means that in addition to having a whole lot more purchasing power, people will have substantially different imperatives with regard to how to spend it. They will, by and large, be less interested in long working hours, with the median likely to fall to about 30 hours per week or what research suggests is optimal. The will prefer the less restricting relationship of an employment status to the more flexible productive relationships that Enterprise Networks will afford them. They will likely place high importance on obtaining, through telepresence, a 'live anywhere' lifestyle.
For business owners, clearly, the Finely Crafted Life will profoundly change your relationship with your customers and collaborators. For investors, it will change how the business owners you invest in will want to view your relationship.
On the other hand, a balance between actual and preferred modalities creates a sense of self-actualization and a feeling that one’s life experiences are personally appropriate. In other words, the person with a finely crafted life feels that they are prosecuting it in a way that expresses their uniqueness. In the Information Age, affluence will be defined, not simply by financial wherewithal, but by the degree to which one's life reflects ones own abilities, interests and personality. In other words, affluent people will be self-aware and will have created for themselves a Finely Crafted Life.
In the Industrial Age, with prevailing incomes, even in the developed world, barely sufficient to meet the bottom levels of Maslow's Hierarchy, nearly all people's lives were unbalanced with a substantial over experiencing of the productive modality. Even with that, often the other modalities were under-experienced due to insufficient consumptive rights (income).
So, as incomes explode over the next thirty years, many people will likely spend part of their financial affluence to reduce the degree to which they engage in their primary productive activity. At the same time, they will have the financial resources to indulge in activities that may enhance their aesthetic experiences or their creative experiences or their social experiences.
Clearly, this means that in addition to having a whole lot more purchasing power, people will have substantially different imperatives with regard to how to spend it. They will, by and large, be less interested in long working hours, with the median likely to fall to about 30 hours per week or what research suggests is optimal. The will prefer the less restricting relationship of an employment status to the more flexible productive relationships that Enterprise Networks will afford them. They will likely place high importance on obtaining, through telepresence, a 'live anywhere' lifestyle.
For business owners, clearly, the Finely Crafted Life will profoundly change your relationship with your customers and collaborators. For investors, it will change how the business owners you invest in will want to view your relationship.
