Needs vs. Wants

‎"The wealthiest person is not who has the most, but who needs the least." -Richard Watts

Needs and wants. Many people conflate the two. They see the stylish new whatever Kim Kardashian is wearing and think "Oh I need to get one of those!" That's an easy one, clearly he/she really meant to say "I want." Given this imprecision in everyday speech, the prefatory quote I listed above should probably be understood to mean that the wealthiest person wants the least. (However, that small change also carries a connotation of being unambitious, so I can see why the author opted for "needs.")

Actual needs are pretty much the same for everyone. Thoreau defined them as food, water, shelter, clothing, and fuel. Five basic needs that all human beings share. After that, however, everything is a question of "wanting." Wants come in all shapes and sizes and will vary from one person to the next. One premise we'll have to agree on is this: one whose wants are met is content/happy. One whose wants are not met is discontent/unhappy. Based on that premise, it should follow that someone with less extravagant wants will be contented more easily, or in other words, find happiness more easily.

Take the following example. Bob and Carl are two men who want a vehicle. Both men have exactly the same job, the same net worth, the same skills, talents, intelligence, and all their other wants are exactly the same. Both men are identical in all respects except for one: Bob would be fine driving a cheap used car, while Carl wants nothing less than a new BMW. Because Bob's wants are less extravagant than Carl's, he is going to have a much easier time having his wants met than Carl will. Bob may only have to spend $10k-$20k on his car, while Carl will have to spend well over $50k. Bob is thus left with much more money to spend on other wants he might have, while Carl is not. Both men ultimately get what they want in terms of a vehicle, but by the time Carl has gotten his BMW, Bob has been able to take his wife on a trip to Europe, pad up his 401k, and save for a rainy day. Bob not only reached contentment sooner and more easily than Carl, but he was also able to satisfy other wants which Carl couldn't.

That illustrates the empowerment that comes by having modest wants. A person with modest wants is still perfectly free to be ambitious and obtain all the fancy things that a "Carl" wants, but his happiness doesn't depend on it. He's not going to get discouraged if his neighbor has something better than him as long as his wants are independent of whatever anyone else has.

The bottom line is that the more aligned one's wants and needs become, the more easily contented one will be. That isn't to say that it's wrong to have wants above and beyond one's basic needs, since needs are pretty easily satisfied. But unreasonably inflated or extravagant wants and expectations are a sure way to unhappiness.