by Mark Cannon

Created on: June 25, 2009

Need is a difficult concept to grasp at the best of times. One can say that they need shelter, that they need clothes, that they need food. However, all of these statements are technically untrue. Shelter is not necessary, it is possible to carry on an existence, albeit an uncomfortable one, without shelter. Clothes are not necessary, they are a luxury item. And if someone was to say to me that they needed food, I would have to disagree. They may need food to continue living, but that wasn't what they said. They should really have said "I need food to continue living" in the first place. It all really depends on your definition of the word "need". Most people will define it as something that is necessary to survive, but without clarification of this context, it is impossible to list anything which we need.

To better analyze this topic, it may be useful to investigate a case study: For your reference, please examine the following commonly used dialogue:

"I need you to stop stabbing me in the chest, please. It hurts quite a lot, and I think that I might die if you continue to do so."

In this case, the person in question recognizes that their need to live is under threat by the continuous penetration of their flesh with a sharp metallic object. Having realized this, they are attempting to communicate to another person, who happens to be in control of said metallic item, that they require help from them to continue living, specifically, in this case, by not stabbing them anymore. As this need has been communicated somewhat effectively, the person holding the knife will likely recognize this need, and cease their activity, unless, of course, their action is premeditated by a need of their own, or by need's cousin, "want". So, for example, the other person may reply:

"Sorry, but unfortunately I cannot fulfill your request at this time, because I want you to stop being alive now"

In this way, it can be proven that "want" trumps "need", especially if you happen to already be in the process of achieving that which you want.

If one was to define "need" as a requirement for something which will allow a person to continue to live, there are very few things in this world which we actually need. Food and air are the only things which spring to mind here, although one could add a number of other specific necessities, such as in the phrase, "I need you to stand in front of me for a moment, there's a bullet headed this way and I might die if you don't block the way" (It should be noted that that specific phrase is technically flawed, as it is physically impossible to do anything for just a moment, but we will overlook this problem for the time being.)

In summary, most of the time when someone says that they need something, they really just want it. According to the Rolling Stones, "you can't always get what you want, but if you try, sometimes, you might find, you get what you need" I don't really know how that summarizes any of the points that I've made in this article, but I really need to stop writing now.

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