The hierarchy of needs has some parallels in the types of questions that are being asked and to the decisions that we are taking.
Thinking of the question of an independent Scotland and would it be the right thing to do for our children and our grandchildren ..... ?
If we start at the bottom of the triangle.
Physiological
Would our children cease to have a future if we did not leave? Would their very existence be under threat if we did not leave?
Safety
Are our children going to be at increased risk if we do not leave? This is probably at the heart of the question and where all the questions of what an independent Scotland would look like and how that would compare to how things would be if we stay.
Belonging
Will our children feel a greater sense of belonging if we do not leave? Will there be less hostility and confrontation if we decide to go it alone?
Esteem
Will our children have a reduced level of self esteem if we do not leave?
Self Actualization
Will our children have less chance of increasing their self actualization if we do not leave.
I've not seen any clear cut arguments that prove that our children would be better off if become independent. Lots of conjecture and hyperbole but nothing clear cut and undeniable. They are not going to be wiped out but not convinced they'll be better off.
If we leave we are going to have a decade of conflict with the rest of the UK as we try to pick apart a union that has been in place and developing for the last three hundred years. And the country will be divided in two, it is not going to be a happy place.
If we leave our children will be part of a very small country on the extreme edge of one continent. Their country will not have the same position within the global hierarchy that we have now. Maybe we'll get better at sport ....
Personally I think that self actualization is the only reason why we are being asked to consider independence. If we do leave then a small number of politicians and roughly half of us will get to feel a bit better about themselves.
But they will be ignoring all of the points in the lower part of the triangle. And, for those that understand the principles of the triangle, you don't get involved in the upper parts of the triangle until the lower foundations are firmly grounded.