What is the difference between a need and a want?

Question

What is a necessity and what is not?

What could you not do without?

Answer 1

necessity - food, shelter, clothing. want- a fancy whatever.
woo 2 points.

Answer 2

It all depends on where we live and our social class. Something someone might consider a luxury could be a necessity for another. Also, after we have had something for a while and grown accustomed to it, it becomes a necessity. Take cell phones, for example. Many of us would consider it a necessity, but think back to several years ago, when only doctors and businessmen could afford them. They were luxuries then. Now I cannot imagine getting by without a cell phone. The same can apply to computers as well.

Answer 3

A need can be addressed by minimal requirements. A want is anything that exceeds those requirements.
A necessity is anything that is required for survival. Anything above that level is not a necessity.
Generally speaking, there are but 3 necessities; food (including water), shelter, clothing (to protect one's self from the elements).
You may need a pair of pants, this does not mean that designer jeans are required to fill the bill. You may need refreshment, a latte' is not necessary. You certainly will need a place to live, but it does not need to be a mansion.

Answer 4

NEEDS are what you can not Stay Alive with out or LIVE life without.

In today’s society some new things have became needs, but they are not needed to survive but they have been added on so one could truly LIVE their life.

Wants are anything that you do not NEED but you WANT anyways, people have their own reasons for wanting things. The most basic wants is for stuff that make things easier like less time consuming, no so much hard work, take for instance a Dish Washer Machine is a WANT not a NEED, people can always wash the dishes BY hand… but a lot of people (including me) still WANT a dish washer because it makes things EASY especially if you have a big event or you just feed a lot of people or cooked for a lot of people… but then again, if A LOT of people helped you wash the dishes then again a person would not NEED a DISH Washer Machine now would they LOL. Yet I still WANT my dishwasher out of pure convenience.

List of NEEDS:

Freedom
LOVE
Peace
Unity
Clean Water
Healthy Food
Land
Shelter
Health Care
Clothing
Education
Child Care
Free Energy for people (Electricity)
A form of good reliable Public Transportation (any type of transportation)
A form of Communication (such as a phone or access to the internet or some form of media such as that)



List of (my) WANTS:

MUSIC got to have MUSIC! (Any Art for that matter)
Cell phone
Video Games (and any other games LOL)
My Dish Washer Machine of course LOL as stated above…
And the list can GO on and on… till I figure out what I actually want LOL…
;-)

What "I" couldn't do with out ...
would be...
Clean Water
Healthy Food
the rest I could get one way or another if I put my mind to it ;-)
and was inovative and creative enough Muhahahahaa!

Answer 5

A necessity is something required to sustain life; food and water, to a lesser extent shelter and clothes depending on where you are.

A want is something you desire but not because of basic survival intuition, again hunger, thirst, keeping warm/cool. This covers just about everything else, such as gluttony (eating more than necessary), comfort (having everything you need at ease), preference (clear water instead of brown water).

Answer 6

A need is a necessity like water, food, sunlight.
A want is a desire like certain stuff u could do without.
A need is more important than wants anyday.

Answer 7

okay maybe that isnt such an obvious question.

the line that seperates need from want is different depending on what youre talking about.

for instance you might say that you need food. well, do you NEED food in the next.. week? NO! In fact itd do most of us Americans some good. But ultimately you do need food.

I dont know. thats a bad quetion because the answer has to be dynamic (ie depends on the situation).

Lets look at reality. Do we need love? Ya! Do we need ...candy? probably. It just all depends on how youre looking at things.

Answer 8

A need is a necessity of life..i.e. food, clothing, shelter, love, security, and companionship and a means to provide these things. A want would be anything in excess of your basic needs.
Example
Need: Providing food, clothing, and shelter for your family.
Want: MTV's My Super Sweet Sixteen
I guess in some things in life it's better to have it and not need it, than to want it and not have it.

Answer 9

A need is required for life to continue. For humans air, water, food, sleep and sex are needs. Air, water, food and sleep at the individual and species levels. Sex is considered a need in order to prevent the demise of the species, so technically it is not a need at the individual level.

A want is, at its most basic, nothing more than a desire. And therein lies the true root of all evil-when the individual or group places their wants and desires above the needs and rights of others.

Answer 10

If you're a typical person, a need is something you need to survive: food, water, shelter, and sometimes clothing, and a want is a desire, whether it's something else, or an upgraded version of something on that list.

If you're aiming for a goal, a need is crucial to achieving it, while a want is not crucial, but may be helpful.

And if you're a teen, a need is something you need to survive socially, like name brands, CD's, and an attitude. A want for a teen is limited to desire.