Fiction: Fulfilling Our Needs?
When I was in seventh grade speech class I decided what I wanted to do with my life. We were learning about persuasive speeches or something and our teacher introduced Maslow’s theory as a way to help write persuasive speeches by figuring out at which stage your audience probably was. When I learned about his theories, I fell in love with the field of psychology. Then, when I was a freshmen, I revisited Maslow’s theory for a paper. It’s from that paper that I want to draw my thoughts for this post. It seems kind of unrelated to the class, but it’s something that I have wondered about. Granted, when I wrote the paper I was an uneducated freshman who just needed a paper topic and tried to make a somewhat scholarly-sounding paper to just make it by in the class.
The paper was about the intersection of literature and psychology: why people read fiction. I posited that perhaps one of the biggest reasons we read fiction (for those of us who do actually read fiction) is because we can live vicariously through the characters and fulfill the different stages of our needs through the characters of the book. In my paper I said that perhaps this did not apply to the first two levels, since those needs are necessary for survival. Before you read a book you make sure you can eat that day, etc. However, it might apply to the higher level needs. That’s why romance novels are so popular. Perhaps when it is too much effort to fulfill our own needs we turn to a book to fulfill the needs for us.
I don’t know. When it comes down to it, the idea seems somewhat ridiculous. After all, some people read certain novels even after their needs are filled. For example, people in committed relationships still read the Twilight books, so they’re not using those books to fulfill their desire for love. It was just something I was thinking about.
Mary Tomkins on Laughter
1:59 pm, 10.04.10
I find it interesting that the videos that I think are the funniest are the ones where animals hurt themselves. Maybe the fact that they had no idea what was going on makes it funnier? Just a thought.
Mary Tomkins on I'll take theories for $1,000
12:40 pm, 10.04.10
I like the way you present this idea. You do a good job of being open to new theories.
Something about this theory, though: you mention that God is giving us mysteries to figure out. Rachel said that he might just have a sense of humor. And I appreciate both of those things. But at the same time it makes me wonder if God would think it is worth it to do all that. I mean, there are a lot of people that don’t believe because of this. Granted, maybe he just wants us to take things on faith. Sometimes it’s just hard to see God as making a joke or giving us mysteries at the cost of souls.
Mary Tomkins on Locke and Education
12:55 pm, 09.20.10
I agree, too Amy. Sometimes a push is needed for kids to keep trying, I know it was for me. We were talking about something like this in Developmental the other day, about trying to not go to too many extremes while making teaching fun, or else it just gets ridiculous and unproductive.
Mary Tomkins on Darko Determinism
12:53 pm, 09.20.10
It kind of sounds like you’re not making the distinction between knowing and making. Maybe just because Donnie knew his future didn’t mean he couldn’t change it. Like the movie Paycheck, if you’ve seen it. He knew his future or destiny, and was able to change it. Maybe I’m just confused by the phrase “we will do whatever we do.”
Mary Tomkins on Here's to Living or Not
12:30 pm, 09.06.10
Earl, this is amazing. It’s very well-written and helps me sort my thoughts better. Well done.
Mary Tomkins on Greek Philosophy and Eurocentrism
1:59 am, 09.06.10
Wow, that’s a good point. It’s kind of something I’ve been thinking about too, since a lot of my classes have been bringing in the ancient Greeks this week. I think part of it is because they’re the best documented sources we have, but then again we always attribute these ideas as originating with their Greek philosopher, instead of just being repeated by them. And I’ve never heard of Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa, even though apparently he wrote a whole book. I wonder what makes the Greeks so special.
Mary Tomkins on Plato's Cave and Culture
1:42 am, 09.06.10
I went and listened to that song, and I really like it. I like how the Stoics’ philosophy can also be heard in it. The line “I’ll find strength in pain” is pretty clearly stoicism, even to someone like me who doesn’t interpret music very well. I also like the references to Greek mythology with the idea of the Sirens.
Mary Tomkins on The Fetishization of Authenticity
2:06 am, 09.01.10
Josh, you make a good point. I really appreciate the idea of not liking something just for the sake of liking it, and being ‘authentic’ just for the sake of being authentic. You look at this in a way I hadn’t thought of before. When being a nonconformist has become a way of conforming I see what you mean. It reminds me of something that happened to me in high school. I had a teacher who was talking about authenticity and said that he’d only had one student in his teaching career that he really thought to be genuine. When I heard that I was offended, and I remember thinking something along the lines of “I don’t know who he is, to think that I’m not authentic just because I don’t feel the need to stand out.” Maybe a better term for him would have been ‘unique’, but our society places such a great value on authenticity. Too many people are trying to hard to be authentic and miss out on actually living life. Thanks for the post!