Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Gary C. Fisher
Treasurer, The Mars
Foundation
ISDC 2006
Los Angeles
May 4-7 2005
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Abstract:
The Mars Homestead Project of the Mars
Foundation created a design for the first mostly
self-sufficient settlement on Mars. In looking at
the problem of the role of life support systems in
such a settlement we consulted Maslow's
hierarchy of needs in order to prioritize the
systems needed to arrive, survive and thrive on
Mars. This talk relates how Maslow's hierarchy
informed the design process of the settlement.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Abraham Maslow 1908-1970:
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Maslow was a psychologist who studied law at the
City College of New York and Cornell.
He received his BA in 1930, his MA in 1931, and his
PhD in 1934, all in psychology from the University
of Wisconsin.
Maslow served as the chair of the psychology department at
Brandeis from 1951 to 1969.
Maslow noticed while he worked with monkeys early in his
career that some needs take precedence over others.
Maslow's primary contribution to psychology is his Hierarchy of
Human Needs, which he often presented as a pyramid.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
A Guiding Philosophy for Designing a Mars Settlement:
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Work with the environment – not against it.
There is no such thing as waste, there are only
resources we are too stupid to know how to use.
Martians cannot afford to be “stupid.” Our job is to
learn and teach.
Affordable and easy to maintain life support is a
necessary, but insufficient, component of a
Martian Civilization.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
Diagram from: Robert Gwynne, Ph.D. University of Tennessee with modifications
--|
|
(Achieving individual potential)
Thrive
|
(Self-esteem and esteem from others)
|
---
(Love, affection, being part of groups)
<- Life Support (Some)
Survive
---
(Shelter, removal from danger)
Alive
---
Dead
(Health, food, sleep, liquid, sex, etc.)
ISDC 2006
<- Life Support (Mostly)
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
MASLOW’S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS (Revised)
Huitt, W. (2004). Maslow's hierarchy of needs. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State
University. Retrieved 08/05/2004 from, http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html.
---
|
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Growth
“B-Needs”
|
|
--|
Deficiency
“D-Needs”
|
--ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Necessary, but not Sufficient
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Life support addresses the two lowest levels of the
hierarchy: physiological and safety.
Without these people will not act civilly.
For a settlement to grow people should not have to think
about the first two levels. They will be drawn to the
settlement if they feel that it will satisfy one of the higher
needs.
Our Martian homestead may succeed perfectly at the
first two levels, but unless it satisfies needs at the higher
levels it would still fail. There are many places in the
world today where the first two levels are not being
satisfied. These are all places people would leave.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Maslow’s Hierarchy:
Physiological
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Physiological needs are the very basic needs
such as air, water, food, sleep, sex, etc. When
these are not satisfied we may feel sickness,
irritation, pain, discomfort, etc. These feelings
motivate us to alleviate them as soon as possible
to establish homeostasis. Once they are
alleviated, we may think about other things.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Maslow’s Hierarchy:
Safety
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Safety needs have to do with establishing stability
and consistency in a chaotic world. These needs
are mostly psychological in nature. We need the
security of a home and family.
According to Maslow, if a person feels that they
are in harm’s way the higher needs will not
receive much attention.
At some point we will need to address how the
rules (law) are made and how the rule of law will
be enforced.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Maslow’s Hierarchy:
Love & Belonging (The Social Needs)
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Love and belongingness are next on the ladder. Humans
have a desire to belong to groups: clubs, work groups,
religious groups, family, gangs, etc. We need to feel loved
by others, to be accepted by others. Performers
appreciate applause. We need to be needed.
Settlement design does not need to specifically address
this or the higher levels. The initial settlers will certainly
feel a sense of “we are all in this together.” Beyond that,
people are very creative at creating trade organizations,
fraternities, social clubs, etc. It might not be a bad idea to
get this started through by planting the seed for some of
these, e.g., The Hydroponics Guild.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Maslow’s Hierarchy:
Esteem
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There are two types of esteem needs. First is self-esteem
which results from competence or mastery of a task.
Second, there's the attention and recognition that comes
from others. This is similar to the belongingness level,
however, wanting admiration has to do with the need for
power. People who have all of their lower needs satisfied,
often acquire “status symbols” because doing so raises
their level of esteem.
I do not think we will need to be concerned about this.
People are very creative at creating honor societies,
awards, etc. It might not be a bad idea to get this started
by planting the seed for some of these, e.g., Certified Air
Recycling Engineer. ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Maslow’s Hierarchy:
Self-actualization
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The need for self-actualization is "the desire to become
more and more what one is, to become everything that
one is capable of becoming." People who have everything
can maximize their potential. They can seek knowledge,
peace, esthetic experiences, self-fulfillment, oneness with
God, etc.
At some point the Martians, assuming they need or desire
immigrants, will need to publish and publicize first person
accounts of how Mars helped a them achieve this. The
possibility of this is what will keep Martians on Mars and
Earth folks coming.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Fisher’s Martian Life Support Hierarchy
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
Energy/fuel (stored energy)
Shelter (habitable volume – pressure, temp, radiation)
Air
Water
Food
Light
Clothing (Temperature Regulation)
Medicine, medical supplies and equipment
Communication
Surface Transport
Navigation
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Bootstrap Mode
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An assumption was made that an energy source large
enough to meet the needs of the initial compliment of
people will be imported from Earth and ready when they
arrive. A fuel production system will also have been put in
place and already made a supply of fuel.
A further assumption was made that the initial
complement arrives with adequate, if temporary, shelter
and sufficient stores to get them through the boot
strapping stage along with some communication,
transport, and navigation systems to last until
replacements can be made.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Bootstrap Mode cont.
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Nothing can be recycled from these systems until native
replacements have been made or replacements imported.
Therefore, the systems, tools, and raw materials to
bootstrap are a separate imported group of things.
The initial task of the bootstrap systems is to produce
their own replacements. Again, we can assume that our
initial power source will function as is for an extended
period. And triple redundancy of this system is provided
from Earth. The priority would then be items 2 thru 11 of
the life support hierarchy in so far as it is part of the effort
to create a backup bootstrap system.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
The Dawn of Self-Sufficiency
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The next task of the bootstrap systems is to produce
additional replacements for themselves to support later
waves of settlers.
The additional systems then can be used to produce
additional materials to be used to enhance the quality of
life of the settlers and build redundancy into the basic
systems (including energy). It is at this point that safety
needs are met and population increase can be
supported and that entrepreneurial activity can really
begin. It is also at this point that we move beyond the
physiological and safety levels of Maslow’s hierarchy.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
The Dawn of Self-Sufficiency cont.
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There is another basic need that spans items 1
thru 8 above. This is waste processing. It need
not be waste recycling, but at a minimum, waste
must be processed so that it does not foul the
shelter or disrupt the systems addressing the
other basic needs.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Martian Settlement Design
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Most of the issues before us have been well
researched and in many cases prototypes have
been built and tested. Our main task is to weed
through the existing information and separate the
wheat from the chaff. THIS IS FALSE!
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Martian Settlement Design
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We decided we should avoid “futures” and
speculating upon the technologies available in
the future and only use existing technology.
Trusting your life to new technologies is for
explorers; settlers use “tried and true.” Our own
credibility is also at stake.
For 40 years the artificial intelligence that designs
the fusion reactor has been just 10 years away.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Martian Settlement Design
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The primary focus of past and current research in
Closed Environmental Life Support has assumed
zero gravity, under orbital conditions, and assume
smaller populations than we are considering.
While not entirely irrelevant, I suspect that in
most cases the appropriate Martian solution is
one based upon a modification of an Earth
(gravity field) system.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Martian Settlement Design
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Environmental Closure is less important on Mars
than in space and the tradeoff is one of more
energy use (to extract required materials from the
resources at hand or maintain environmental
conditions within tolerance) in exchange for less
closure. This may be the more cost effective
route.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Martian Settlement Design
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Current system metrics: Equivalent Mass (EM),
Equivalent System Mass (ESM), etc. were
formulated for orbital and interplanetary mission
designs, not for settlement. We may need to
define a more appropriate metric.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Martian Settlement Design
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The last two points combine to point us towards a metric
of ESE (equivalent system energy) since on Mars the
limiting factor is not the launch capacity available to put
mass into space, but the energy available to manipulate
the mass at hand. I suspect we also want to weight the
metric by the type of energy used – electricity vs high
grade heat vs low grade heat, etc. This would give a
preference to systems that use low grade heat (probably
the waste component of some other system) over one
that requires high grade heat or electricity to achieve the
same result.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
other components of a good Settlement Technologies Metric:
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simplicity vs complexity;
low maintenance vs high maintenance;
ability to grow;
in situ resource percentage vs imported resource
percentage;
decentralized vs centralized, etc.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Martian Settlement Design
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For settlers life support systems will be a business
and an occupation, not a social program or public
utility or something provided by the lowest bidder on
a government contract.
We want to create an environment that generates
competing private suppliers of habitable space, air,
water, food, and energy – and everything else for that
matter. We are starting a settlement – a town on the
Martian frontier - not a commune or government run
lab. This is not a kibbutz and it is not Antarctica!
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Martian Settlement Design
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Let’s not forget services: banking, insurance,
entertainment, communications, transport, education,
child care, legal, security, hotel, funeral, restaurant, etc.
People could be imported from Earth to provide these
services, but it makes more sense for these to be
secondary and tertiary occupations of the initial settlers.
In every Western movie what were the major components
of a frontier town? – general store,
Hotel/saloon/restaurant/brothel, jail/sheriff’s office, barber
shop, livery stable/black smiths, train station/telegraph
office, undertaker, church, and a bank (to be robbed).
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
and The Mars Homestead Project
Miscellaneous Thoughts On Martian Settlement Design
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Historically the town portion of a settlement is dependent
upon a major nearby economic activity: port, tourism,
ranching, farming, mining, manufacturing, government,
gambling, etc. What is the main economic support for a
Martian settlement? We cannot just focus on what
makes it possible, we need to focus on what will make it
viable.
ISDC 2006
May 4-7, 2006