Nice article exploring the science of happiness

[Mercutio]

"Some Dark Thoughts On Happiness" (http://www.printthis.clickability.com/pt/cpt?action=cpt&title=Some+Dark+Thoughts+on+Happiness+--+New+York+Magazine&expire=&urlID=18800333&fb=Y&url=http://www.newyorkmag.com/news/features/17573/&partnerID=73272)

I didn't think it was so dark, myself--a nice compilation of some of the recent and not-so-recent scientific approaches to understanding happiness.

No real comment, here--just thought some might be interested.

[andyandy]

one finds happiness when one does not seek to look :)

very interesting article....

i remember a discovery channel docu following a world-wide survey on happiness - where individuals were given a portable "happines rater" into which they had to rate on a scale how happy they were at set points of their day....the conclusions were as those alluded to in the article, that "happiness" seems to be calibrated around an individual set level - and exists largely irrespective of economic status....

[andyandy]

from the blogosphere (http://chandraclarke.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2006-07-01T00%3A00%3A00-04%3A00&updated-max=2006-08-01T00%3A00%3A00-04%3A00&max-results=4)Late last week [July 2006], the University of Leicester released what was dubbed the 'world's first happiness map.'

Produced by Adrian White, an analytic social psychologist, the map is the result of reviewing data published by several organizations like UNESCO and the WHO (the organization, not Pete Townsend's band). Participants in the various studies had been asked questions related to happiness and their overall satisfaction with life.

The map is surprising for many reasons. The first is that the study author resisted using stacked happy face graphics to illustrate levels of happiness on the map. The second is that there is no longer something rotten in the state of Denmark (sorry, Shakespeare), as it's the happiest place on Earth. Switzerland, Austria, Iceland, The Bahamas, Finland, Sweden, Bhutan, Brunei and Canada round out the top ten.

The unhappiest places on Earth are the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Zimbabwe and Burundi. I suspect there are a few other places on Earth that might rank as even unhappier, but potential respondents are too busy avoiding bombs to answer surveys.

So what makes a country's citizens happy? It's an important question, as governments have started looking at happiness as a potential measure of a country's well-being as well as GDP. (GDP stands for Gross Domestic Product, which is private consumption + government + investment + net exports. It is not, as any new mother might surmise, something your baby produces). Adrian White suggests that happiness is associated with health, followed by wealth and then education. Of course I think there are several other reasons to explain why some countries are happier than others.

Switzerland obviously ranks well because of one thing: Swiss chocolate.

As for the other countries in the top ten, you will note they are primarily northern countries with cold climates. Colder climates make for happier people because:

1. Good weather is so rare that when it does happen, we really, really appreciate it.
2. Cold weather makes for better hockey. And there's nothing like watching 10 men with blades on their feet and big sticks fighting over a puck to get your aggressions out.
3. Cold weather also reduces the number of nasty, poisonous things wandering about the countryside. I'm quite happy that the local swimming pool doesn't have to be checked for water snakes, and that I don't have to arm wrestle the spiders that sometimes invade my house.

The US, in spite of famous documents talking about the right to pursue happiness, isn't quite as chipper as you might expect, coming in at 23. Apart from war woes, one suspects US happiness levels drop every time President Bush goes abroad. This is because Americans fear that if he gave Russian President Vladimir Putin the same impromptu shoulder massage he just gave Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin would judo fling him across the room and geopolitics as we know it would go all to hell.

snip

Japan is astonishingly low in the rankings as well, coming in at 90. According to Naomi Moriyama, Japanese women don't get old *or* fat, so I'm not sure why the Japanese aren't happier. On the other hand, anyone who has seen an episode of The Iron Chef will know that the Japanese have an entirely different perspective on what's funny and entertaining than we do here in the west.

you can see the happiness map here (http://www.le.ac.uk/pc/aw57/world/sample.html)

the conclusions of this study was that

It was found that SWB [subjective wellbeing] correlated most strongly with health (.7) closely followed by wealth (.6) and access to basic education (.6). This adds to the evidence that from a global perspective the biggest causes of SWB are poverty and associated variables.

[Ichneumonwasp]

Thanks, Merc. Great article.

[Inanna]

Happiness comes to you when it wants to come itself.Whenever I have wanted to be happy I have not been & whenever I've not searched for it consciously,it has come to me as a nice,nice,surprise. Thanx,Mercutio,for starting this thread.
Cheers

[petra10]

most of my happiness comes from children,cheesy i know,but very true