I need, you need, we all need something. But do any of us really understand the meaning of need. Need has been and is a word that everyone has used at least once in their lifetime. It has become of word of common misconception to its actual meaning. The word need means a condition or situation in which something is required. But in actuality the things that are said to be in need are not always the possessions most important. This may sound confusing and it should be for the use of the word need has become an irony to its meaning. Wanting to watch TV isn’t something of need, but wanting food for nourishment is something of need. Materialistic objects are things of want, but aspects of survival are things of need.

Need has become a common misreading of thinking materialistic things are of necessity. Need can be described as essential, must, required and want. Wanting something isn't needing the fixation that is desired. Need is not having something that you should have to in order to survive. For example, someone who is malnourished and without food is someone who is in need. If this person doesn't receive the nutrients they need they will eventually die. Someone who required medical attention is someone in need. If someone comes in with a bullet wound to the heart they are in dire need. If a doctor doesn't choose to operate on the person's heart they will most likely die from immense bleeding. You see those are some of the times when something is in need.

People often think of need as wanting something to socially benefit them. Someone wanting money to buy brand new jewelry isn't someone in need. Who ever said that you need jewelry to survive or to live your life? People don't actually look into the meaning of need. The meaning of need originated from Middle English and came from nede, neod, and ned, which meant distress or necessity. Since when is wanting brand new shoes for school a situation of distress? Why is wanting a new cell phone, car, TV, MP3 something to stress over?

The word need has evolved into two meanings that should be separated from one another. People have taken the word need and made it into a meaning that is opposite. They have made the word into meaning something nonessential and superfluous. When someone says, "Dad I need a ride to school," when the school is 7 minutes away from their home, it isn't a necessity. It is called laziness and it is something that most people realize. Due to people becoming lazy, money-oriented, and unaware to what someone is obliged to have to live one's life, the word need has become a fallacy and used in wrong context.

The media has come across this fallacy as well. This can be seen with all these new extreme makeover shows we see on primetime television. They act like these people are in dire need of a makeover. However in actuality they aren't in need and these people have continued to live their lives for nearly 30- 40 years, and now all of a sudden they need a makeover. Envious makeovers do not fall under the category of need, but they are things of want and desire.

There is a certain line one can't cross when they say that they need something. Sure people can come up with fallacies of contradiction on this topic, but when it comes down to it they are only fighting a battle that can't be won. If this something won't help them live their lives the way their supposed to then they don't need it. It isn't wrong to want objects for their own social benefit, but when they do want these things the word need can't be used in the same sentence. Something that is wanted can be had, but something that is in need ought to be had. That is the difference people have to realize and distinguish.