“I have discovered the missing link between the anthropoid apes and civilized men. It’s us!” – Abraham Maslow

After years of interviewing and studying a spectrum of what he considered especially healthy individuals, Abraham Maslow developed a list of characteristics shared by, what he referred to as, a different breed of human beings and almost ideally healthy human beings before borrowing the term self-actualized from German neurologist and psychiatrist Kurt Goldstein.

Based on his research Maslow estimated that less than 1% of the general population are self-actualized.

I believe that, by identifying self-actualized Homo sapiens, Maslow discovered the difference between a small number of genuine human beings and the rest of us.

The rest of us (more than 99% of the general population) can more accurately be described as either retrochimps or neochimps. Our species is in horrible shape (and in denial about flirting with self-annihilation) because retros and neos have more in common with chimpanzees (who also obsess over power, acceptance, and status) than genuine human beings (who don’t care about power, acceptance, or status).

The distinction between the two is that neos yearn to be humans whereas retros prefer behaving like chimpanzees while pretending to be human beings.

In other words, neochimps are like healthy caterpillars following higher instincts to evolve into beautiful butterflies, while retrochimps have more in common with jealous, easily threatened, resentful, diseased caterpillars. Jealous of the butterflies beauty and ability to fly and slave to base instincts, thy kill butterflies, wear the wings, and convince one another they’re better than butterflies.

Like diseased caterpillars compelled to destroy the butterflies threatening their self-deceptions and incapable of grasping the consequences, the retrochimps’ need to pretend they are what they aren’t compels them to hate and destroy human beings and neochimps who yearn to be human.

Like diseased caterpillars who fail to connect slaughtering butterflies with destroying their species’ chances of survival. Instead, they protect their charade by eliminating healthy caterpillars who dare suggest that the inability to fly proves they aren’t butterflies.

History is an ongoing story of the least evolved eliminating the more evolved who threaten to keep the least evolved from indulging dopamine-induced addictions to the primitive survival needs Maslow categorized into four lower deficiency needs (D-needs).

1. Physiological (eating, sleeping, sex)
2. Safety (power)
3. Acceptance (approval, attention)
4. Esteem (status)

Our deficiency/primitive survival needs are dependent on a highly evolved biological reward system. The system is fueled by the dopamine triggered by expectations of rewards associated with survival-friendly behaviors. When the system works as intended, dopamine functions as a life-sustaining, evolutionary-fostering neurotransmitter. When the system malfunctions, dopamine turns into a life-threatening addictive drug that causes dopamine dysfunction.

Simply put, the vast majority of us are dopamine addicts who don’t know, or want to know, we’re addicts because self-deception and denial are the hallmark symptoms of all addictions. As a result, society limits the list of addictions to drugs and gambling (and recently added food and video games) while conveniently ignoring the most common and destructive addictions to fear/power, acceptance/approval/attention, esteem/status, belief systems, and money.

All problems, dishonesty, pollution, prejudices, bigotry, wars, human trafficking, greed, corruption, destruction, inanity, irrationality, and killing can be traced to dopamine-induced addictions.

Neochimps can’t understand this because they lack the free will required to comprehend how dopamine-induced addictions usurp free will. Instead, neochimps blame shortcomings and frailties on human nature — an absurd conceit that provides gratuitous dopamine hits to phonies who take credit for being what they aren’t, without having to go through the trouble of behaving humanely.

Human beings are addiction free, truth oriented, rational, and possess free will. Humans are capable of arriving at and following logical conclusions. Most importantly, they are humane.

Humans enjoy and appreciate their dopamine-triggering indulgences but never yield to the dopamine dragon. Free of addictions, they have no need for self-deceptions and no reason to deceive others. They waste minimal time satisfying D-needs and are free to address being needs (B-needs). Because they are highly moral, the ends never justify the means and they do what they believe is correct, regardless of who is watching.

Humans don’t have to be commanded not to kill, and their definition of “not killing” extends both to other species and the planet.

Human beings eschew power, position, recognition, and material success. Their adherence to a strong, consistent moral code dramatically limits vocational options. As a result, humans who do achieve material success tend to make their marks (and fortunes) in highly creative, scientific, scholarly, or genuinely humanistic pursuits. Human beings benefit from several advantages, which include experiencing reality as an extraordinary, remarkable, phenomenal, amazing, and mystical gift.

The disadvantages human beings face all stem from being members of a threatening minority on a planet dominated by neochimps who are incapable of admitting that they are intimidated by the humans’ very existence.

The reason neochimps have always prevailed over the genuinely humane is easy to explain. The genuine (and even the potential) humans’ penchants for honesty, reason, awareness, and disdain for killing have always been a serious handicap against neochimps who take full advantage of the benefits provided by their boundless self-deceptions, denial, lack of awareness, and (especially) willingness and ability to kill.