We know the difference between wants and needs. Or at least, most of us get the gist of it. Most of the time.

The difference is infamous. The sort of thing adults tell children all the time: that they will need to learn it.

Wants are clearly something we desire. Needs are things that are imperative.

Our most famous set of needs, laid out in Maslow’s Hierarchy, tells it plain. Food. Shelter. Safety. These are needs. A new video game is a want.

• The intuitive person knows the point is in the difference.
• The astute person recognizes that wants and needs have a lot in common.
• But it is the wise person who recognizes that wants and needs aren’t static.

Humans all have the same needs. But when our needs are met, we develop new needs. Needs that are akin to someone else’s wants.

Urgency can transform a want into a need.

When everybody is young and healthy, accessibility is a want. Or maybe a should. It sure would be nice. But when people can’t use the building? Well, it feels totally different. And when someone gets hurt? Are we still really thinking that’s a want?

I suspect, like most things, we’ve overblown the difference between the two. Especially given how easily things change. And how often that want inevitably becomes a need.

The wise person worries less about differentiating wants and needs. They’re busy determining whether we need it now or later. And how much more it will cost if we wait.