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diemkay's review
5.0
What a beautiful and interesting book; best I’ve read in a long time. Made me feel less alone, peering into the kinds of all the thinkers who’ve delved into self-actualization over the years. It totally changed the way I see Maslow, and made me realize how interesting his later thoughts and work are. You can’t read this book and not become a better person, or strive to be one.
It seems we are all capable of self actualisation and transcendence, and some get more glimpses of this state more than others (whether through meditation, moments of crisis or psychedelics). Then it hit me; if we know this to be true because we can experience it, philosophers are now able to prove it at least on a theoretical level, then the moment we can accomplish it in practice it has to become a moral imperative to no longer treat people and other species the way we do. It opens up the world for a new kind of ethics, which is quite exciting.
It seems we are all capable of self actualisation and transcendence, and some get more glimpses of this state more than others (whether through meditation, moments of crisis or psychedelics). Then it hit me; if we know this to be true because we can experience it, philosophers are now able to prove it at least on a theoretical level, then the moment we can accomplish it in practice it has to become a moral imperative to no longer treat people and other species the way we do. It opens up the world for a new kind of ethics, which is quite exciting.
samle1e's review
5.0
The best self-help/positive-psychology book I've read. And now I can forever respond with the retort, "Actually, Maslow never used a pyramid."
stewart_forsyth's review
5.0
Scott Barry Kaufman aims to make the growth perspective of humanistic psychologists in the 50s relevant today. He has developed a scientific basis to Maslow’s theory of self-actualisation – developing a 10-dimensional scale. He has also reformulated Maslow’s pyramid (which Maslow never mentioned!) into a security and growth model. Great potential for helping clients who want to build growth capabilities.
The key themes (and a link to the scale) can be picked up in this Scientific American article
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/what-does-it-mean-to-be-self-actualized-in-the-21st-century/
The key themes (and a link to the scale) can be picked up in this Scientific American article
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/beautiful-minds/what-does-it-mean-to-be-self-actualized-in-the-21st-century/
dfolivieri's review
I some times thing that a lot of self-improvement books can be largely reduced to lists of advice. While that's not fair in general or to this book, here's my list from it.
1. Frame whatever job you have in terms of what you feel you're good at.
2. Friends are much more valuable than Ferraris
3. It's worth noting whether you want something because you feel you lack it (being hungry for food, not having enough friends, not feeling smart enough) or because you feel satisfied but just genuinely would enjoy more (having dessert, wanting to make friends because this person seems cool, reading a book because it seems neat).
4. Picture your current state of life from the perspective of yourself at 80. What changes would future you want you to make?
1. Frame whatever job you have in terms of what you feel you're good at.
2. Friends are much more valuable than Ferraris
3. It's worth noting whether you want something because you feel you lack it (being hungry for food, not having enough friends, not feeling smart enough) or because you feel satisfied but just genuinely would enjoy more (having dessert, wanting to make friends because this person seems cool, reading a book because it seems neat).
4. Picture your current state of life from the perspective of yourself at 80. What changes would future you want you to make?
thogek's review
5.0
If you've ever heard of Maslow's "Pyramid" Hierarchy of Needs (or even if you haven't but the concept sounds at all interesting), [a:Kaufman|2988207|Scott Barry Kaufman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1419206745p2/2988207.jpg]'s very well-researched and thoughtful breaking down of Maslow's work into its original concepts and building up of a different layering of and interaction between the basic types of human needs (from security to growth to transcendence) and what they mean to human growth and purpose and fulfillment is quite a fascinating (and surprisingly approachable) read, very worth the time.
aloakley's review
3.0
For someone without a basic knowledge of psychology or Abraham Maslow, this book would be perfect. It breaks down Maslow's work and makes it very easy to understand. However, for someone who has studied psychology, the beginning half of the book is a lot of review. This is the only reason I marked this book down. It is interesting, well written, and insightful, but I would not recommend reading the beginning sections if you are familiar with Maslow.
anotherbookishbecca's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
5.0
aimeewoodworks's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
fast-paced
5.0
Read this if you need perspective, if you need a shot of hope, if you're struggling in a transition or need a direction.