In need

Top five lists of the ten most amazing 1001 books about the 100 websites which reveal to you the secret fifty activities you must do with everyone you know before they turn thirty. Only one number one place though picture number seven will amaze you with how unexpected it features a human doing something human. 'The sixth richest nation bar none.'

I've been thinking about hierarchies recently, and their deficiencies[1]. At university I was introduced to Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which at first seemed quite succinct to me then grew more contradictory. It presents a basic interpretation of the possible needs of a generalised populace. Which is where is starts to fall apart, a pyramid build on the marshland of generalisations.

Hierarchies rely on placing one item above or below the relative merits of another item. However, individual taste dictates that for some both items are less acceptable than a third item[3]. For each individual their own hierarchy.

As a cyclist I am aware that for some motorised vehicle drivers I have a lower position on the road[2]. Living outside the city centre of Leeds I am aware how local government money is used to varying degrees, one pavement beautifully cared for while another is overgrown and blocks access.

There isn't a hierarchy to music. I guarantee that what makes me shudder with shivers of sonic sensual satisfaction is different to what does it for you. And it doesn't matter. No guilty pleasures.

No. Guilty. Pleasures.

Just pleasures. That beat that unwinds you, yeah, that's great. That melody that sneaks through the defenses and leaves you crying with joy, yep, I have a few of those too, one by Sepultura too. That lyric, the juxtaposition of the marginally sublime with outright heartfulness, yeah, it happens to me.

The thing is, hierarchies are useless. In football one team could win the league by scoring one goal in each game. At the bottom of the league the relegated team might have had twenty five-all draws. Which games would a neutral spectator prefer to see?

And yet hierarchies are placed upon us all the time. On the same day as you read this someone would have mentioned the number one local retail destination near you. A local newspaper will tell you what people in your town are concerned about, regardless of whether you are concerned about those issues. The local government will make a decision based on one private hierarchy while publicly blaming another.

In Leeds a new retail destination is being built, with accommodation for a John Lewis department store. John Lewis does a lot for the communities it serves. Sadly, not two hundred metres from the site of this new destination is the former base of self medication support service Multiple Choice. My understanding is the closure of the service was down to funding cuts, but surely supporting those who need support the most would be placed higher on a list than remuneration, say?

People are individuals. Sure, there are patterns and from those one could work out where supporting and funding would be best placed.

But in individual taste there is no right or wrong. I like Jason Donovan, I've seen him live. I dislike the sound of the Libertines because it reminds me of the Cure. Thing is, if you thought Jason Donovan wasn't up too much but the Libertines sound and lyrics unlocked the deepest pleasure senses you have, we'd get along fine. Much better than the jerk who thought we both should be listening to the next big thing before they got big and sold out.

Notes
1- Except for the hierarchy I created of fictional detectives, though I concede that Piorot is also better than Batman.
2- On the day of writing I was buzzed by a much larger vehicle. Considering the amount of damage I could cause to another vehicle should I collide with it, the cyclist in a city centre should be first and centre, not on the side.
3- A fourth comes along with a set of nontransitive dice and suggests a game.