Maslow and the Abundance Paradox

Abraham Maslow is best known for his pyramid diagram mapping human motivation. At its base is the basic human survival needs of food, shelter, and safety. At its peak is self-actualization, the full flowering of human potential. Near the end of his life, Maslow also added another level above self-actualization. The goal of this new level was to capture the need to connect with something beyond the self. Maslow called it self-transcendence.

We now stand at the threshold of an era where artificial intelligence promises to address, at scale, the foundational concerns that have consumed human energy for millennia. When algorithms optimize supply chains to eliminate food scarcity, when predictive systems prevent accidents before they happen, when automated diagnostics democratize healthcare, we can hope that in this era of abundance we can provide for all of humanity the everything required to fulfill the base of the Maslow’s pyramid.

Some worry that this journey leads to a loss of human purpose through unemployment or obsolescence. A way to reimagine our human purpose is to refocus on our capacity for meaning-making, connection, and contribution beyond ourselves. These are the building blocks for actualization and ultimately transcendence.

In the 19th-century and well into the 20th the idea was promoted that work is what brings meaning to people’s lives. For most people self-actualization was out of reach and what work meant was earning enough to satisfy just the basics of Maslow’s hierarchy for one’s self and family. Around the middle of the 20th century there was an emergence of a new idea, of finding yourself, developing your potential, climbing toward self-actualization. The self-help section of the bookstore exploded with topics such as personal excellence, peak performance, and individual achievement.

In the coming era we will have the opportunity to combine personal growth with how that growth finds its fullest expression in contribution. Rather than simply asking “What can I achieve?” we can ask “What do I want more of in the world?” This will require us to grapple with questions of value and impact that pure achievement metrics let us avoid.

This shift from achievement to contribution requires new frameworks. When machines handle execution, humans must become philosophers-in-practice, constantly asking: To what end? For whose benefit? Creating what kind of world? The more powerful our tools become, the more important our intentions become. A large language model doesn’t care if it’s writing propaganda or poetry. A predictive algorithm doesn’t distinguish between surveillance and safety. The purpose is in how we choose to use the tool.

For thousands of years, spiritual traditions have pointed toward self-transcendence as the pinnacle of human development. Lose yourself to find yourself. Serve something greater. Connect with the infinite. But for most of human history, these were luxury thoughts for the few who had secured their basic needs. Now, as AI promises to secure those needs at scale, transcendence moves from spiritual aspiration to practical necessity. We’re all about to have more power than we know what to do with. The quality of our questions will determine the quality of our amplified answers.

Here’s an exercise to do in your journal:

Finish the sentence: “If I succeed wildly, people I care about will…” What will they do? How will they be impacted by your choices? What you genuinely want to see more of in the world?

How will you make it observable? Does this increase the dignity/agency/clarity/joy of the person on the other side?

How can you track contribution, not just performance? Traditional metrics measure efficiency—cost per acquisition, time to completion, return on investment. Transcendence metrics measure meaning.

What is the methodology you will embrace for your own elevation? Ask not just “What can the machine do?” but “What does this free you, the human, to do?” The goal is to eliminate the rote, the repetitive, and the soul-crushing so that you can focus on the creative, the connective, the meaningful.