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World's Happiest Places

Then we're essentially discussing what makes people happy.

Sort of...but a little more than that. Why are more people able to do/be certain things that make them happy in Finland than in the United Kingdom?

Ethereal said:
I'd say doing as little as possible and recieving the most in return is what makes most people happy.

I completely disagree with this. I'd be downright miserable if I was doing as little as possible, no matter how much I was rewarded for it.
 
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For anyone who is interested: Science Daily also did a study of this same issue in 2006. They studied the issue worldwide, instead of just among OECD nations as Forbes Magazine did. Here were Science Daily's results:

1. Denmark
2. Switzerland
3. Austria
4. Iceland
5. Bahamas
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Bhutan
9. Brunei
10. Canada
11. Ireland
12. Luxembourg
13. Costa Rica
14. Malta
15. Netherlands
16. Antigua and Barbuda
17. Malaysia
18. New Zealand
19. Norway
20. The Seychelles
...
23. United States
35. Germany
41. United Kingdom
62. France
82. China
90. Japan
125. India
167. Russia
...
176. Democratic Republic of the Congo
177. Zimbabwe
178. Burundi

Psychologist Produces The First-ever 'World Map Of Happiness'

I thought #8 was interesting. Bhutan is the only nation in the world that explicitly prioritizes "Gross National Happiness" over Gross National Product.
 
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In 2008, the World Values Survey determined that the happiest nations (including OECD and non-OECD alike) were:

1. Denmark
2. Puerto Rico
3. Colombia
4. Iceland
5. Northern Ireland
6. Ireland
7. Switzerland
8. Netherlands
9. Canada
10. Austria

Got Warm Feelings? - BusinessWeek

A couple of these aren't technically countries, but nevertheless interesting. War-torn nations like Colombia and Northern Ireland manage to rank higher than their more peaceful neighbors. Perhaps it's because things are improving so rapidly in those nations, that they compare their lives to how bad things were before?

And the Danes seem to be the hands-down winner in all of these surveys.
 
Sort of...but a little more than that. Why are more people able to do/be certain things that make them happy in Finland than in the United Kingdom?

I don't put much stock in these types of surveys. How are we to go about measuring and quantifying happiness? Making inferences from this kind of data is scientifically unsound, in my opinion.

I completely disagree with this. I'd be downright miserable if I was doing as little as possible, no matter how much I was rewarded for it.

Which is why I said "most people." All living creatures are biologically programmed to exert as little effort as possible for the greatest reward possible. Humans have the unique ability to transcend this biological compulsion but most choose not to, instead reverting to their baser desires and inclinations.
 
Here's our happy world. Wunderbar!
the%20global%20projection%20of%20subjective%20well-being.bmp
 
For anyone who is interested: Science Daily also did a study of this same issue in 2006. They studied the issue worldwide, instead of just among OECD nations as Forbes Magazine did. Here were Science Daily's results:

1. Denmark 273
2. Switzerland
3. Austria
4. Iceland
5. Bahamas
6. Finland
7. Sweden
8. Bhutan
9. Brunei
10. Canada
11. Ireland
12. Luxembourg
13. Costa Rica
14. Malta
15. Netherlands
16. Antigua and Barbuda
17. Malaysia
18. New Zealand
19. Norway
20. The Seychelles
...
23. United States 247
35. Germany
41. United Kingdom
62. France
82. China
90. Japan
125. India
167. Russia
...
176. Democratic Republic of the Congo
177. Zimbabwe
178. Burundi

Psychologist Produces The First-ever 'World Map Of Happiness'

I thought #8 was interesting. Bhutan is the only nation in the world that explicitly prioritizes "Gross National Happiness" over Gross National Product.
Here are some scores.
 
Glad to see it. Does nothing to detract from what I stated.

Well as long as you remember we Brits managed to keep the Germans at bay ourselves.

We've been invaded by Frenchmen, Norsemen and even Dutchmen but I think we draw the line at Germans.:2razz:
 
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Well as long as you remember we Brits managed to keep the Germans at bay ourselves.

We've been invaded by Frenchmen, Norsemen and even Dutchmen but I think we draw the line at Germans.:2razz:

When did the dutch invade you?

And I agree that the Brits did keep the germans at bay and they did so admirably. I believe, however, that if the US hadn't entered the war at Japan's "request", that Germany would have finished securing Europe and would have eventually come back stronger, wearing GB down. I also often wonder what would have happened even with us in the war if Germany hadn't tried to march on Moscow in the winter.
 
When did the dutch invade you?
William of Orange. We like to remember it as him being invited but he had already decided and was making preparations to invade and he was only invited by a few MPs.

And I agree that the Brits did keep the germans at bay and they did so admirably. I believe, however, that if the US hadn't entered the war at Japan's "request", that Germany would have finished securing Europe and would have eventually come back stronger, wearing GB down. I also often wonder what would have happened even with us in the war if Germany hadn't tried to march on Moscow in the winter.
I think that seeing as they'd already begun the Russian adventure they would have been worn down themselves and eventually collapsed. But that is of course speculation.
 
Well as long as you remember we Brits managed to keep the Germans at bay ourselves.

We've been invaded by Frenchmen, Norsemen and even Dutchmen but I think we draw the line at Germans.:2razz:

I also happen to remember the USA helping to basically create the logistics for the army that tried to take Finlands sovereignty and also arm them to a degree :2razz: Darn those Americans and their freedom hating ways!

I kid, I kid. :lol: Though considering the nuances of what my grandfather went through, the "if it wasn't for us, you'd be speaking German!" argument does bring out a few chuckles.
 
I also happen to remember the USA helping to basically create the logistics for the army that tried to take Finlands sovereignty and also arm them to a degree :2razz: Darn those Americans and their freedom hating ways!
I think Russia would have been alright anyway, they had so many men and once they'd got all their factories up behind the Urals they would have been hard for the Germans to master. Of course if Stalin had realised what was about to happen, and the signs were there, the Germans might not have got as far east as they did. And then of course there is the fact he'd killed off his best commanders.
 
Another question, related to my original question: What causes nations to be unhappy, aside from the obvious ones like war and crushing poverty?

Eastern European nations (mainly Russia, the Baltic states, and the former Soviet satellites) are among the most miserable places on the planet...even though the countries are middle to upper-middle income, and their governments (while not the greatest) are far from the worst in the world. What do you think it is about these places that makes people so unhappy, compared to people nearly everywhere else?
 
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Another question, related to my original question: What causes nations to be unhappy, aside from the obvious ones like war and crushing poverty?

Eastern European nations (mainly Russia, the Baltic states, and the former Soviet satellites) are among the most miserable places on the planet...even though the countries are middle to upper-middle income, and their governments (while not the greatest) are far from the worst in the world. What do you think it is about these places that makes people so unhappy, compared to people nearly everywhere else?

I think when you have a population that has no incentive to better itself because there is no real social reward for doing so, sedentary classes begin to show angst. Also, in a lot of those eastern european nations (romania comes to mind immediately), their cultures were ravished by collectivist attitudes that crushed any national pride. Which is the exact opposite of what their governments were trying to accomplish.
 
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