What Is the Definition of “human Wants”?
“Human wants” are those things that people desire to have above what they truly need in order to live. Only a limited number of needs actually exists, but wants are virtually unlimited, restricted only by a person’s imagination.
Humans need water, food, shelter and oxygen. Without them, they cannot survive for any length of time. Oxygen is necessary to breathe, food is necessary for the body to work properly, and shelter is necessary to protect a person from the elements. Even within these categories, however, limitations exist. While humans require food, they do not have to have rich food, and they do not need nearly the amount of food that most of them desire. People need shelter, but they do not need to have big, fancy houses. Excess food and fancy houses are wants. Most of the money that many people spend on goods and services fit in the “wants” rather than the “needs” category. In hard economic times, people must choose between wants and needs. When people make poor choices, their health and lives suffer. Because the priorities of many become skewed, those who offer goods and services that people want generally do better economically in good times than those who offer the necessities. In bad economic times, however, those businesses are often the first to fail.
