Post by thread:[OT]: Thread about happiness

Could be connected with spirituality, as in Christiana. -----Original Message----- From: spam_OUTpiclist-bouncesTakeThisOuTmit.edu [.....piclist-bouncesKILLspam@spam@mit.edu] On Behalf Of Peter Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 2:29 AM To: pic microcontroller discussion list Subject: [OT]: Thread about happiness There was a thread about happiness and its quantification on this list some time ago, and I posted some links about this subject then. I would like to add one more: http://www1.eur.nl/fsw/happiness/ Apparently Danes are happiest. Maybe it's connected with humor, as in cartoons ? Peter

I'm not happy that a lot of the data appears to be inaccessible! Nation list http://www1.eur.nl/fsw/happiness/hap_nat/findingreports/RankReport2006-1.htm North Korea doesn't feature. Nor Sudan. Egypt seems low. Guatemala is impressive. Colombia is unbelievable - I knew the stuff was meant to be good, but ... The ex Russian republics, and Russia, tend to rank consistently low. Philippines is well below US which directly contradicts what I've seen elsewhere based on a reasonably detailed survey. Something is wrong with their basic methodology - they rate Australians as happier than NZers. If sorting note that Germany and ? have . and not , Robert Mugabe will be happy that he's beaten the Tanzanians (just) RM Sorted by score: nation1Satisfaction with life 2, 3Number of surveys Denmark8.2, 3 Colombia (5)8.1, 2 Switzerland8.1, 3 Austria7.8, 4 Guatemala (4)7.8, 1 Iceland7.8, 1 Australia7.7, 14 Finland7.7, 4 Mexico7.7, 2 Sweden7.7, 6 CanadaÂ 7.6, 1 Ireland7.6, 3 Luxembourg7.6, 3 Norway7.6, 2 Netherlands7.5, 3 Malta7.5, 2 New Zealand7.4, 1 USA7.4, 2 Belgium7.3, 3 El Salvador7.2, 1 Honduras (4)7.2, 1 Germany7.2, 4 Britain7.1, 4 Cyprus6.9, 1 ItalyÂ 6.9, 3 Argentina6.8, 2 Brazil6.8, 1 Dominican Republic6.8, 1 Singapore6.8, 1 Spain6.8, 5 Venezuela6.8, 2 Chile6.7, 2 Israel6.7, 3 Slovenia6.7, 5 Uruguay6.7, 1 Indonesia6.6, 1 France6.5, 3 Czechia6.4, 3 Greece6.4, 3 Philippines6.4, 2 China (1)6.3, 2 Nigeria6.3, 2 JapanÂ 6.2, 2 Taiwan6.2, 1 UzbekistanÂ (4)6.2, 1 Vietnam6.1, 1 Iran6, 1 Peru6, 2 Portugal6, 3 Poland5.9, 4 Bolivia (4)5.8, 1 Croatia5.8, 2 South-Korea5.8, 1 Bangladesh5.7, 2 Hungary5.7, 8 India5.7, 1 Ivory Coast (4)5.7, 1 Morocco5.6, 1 Senegal (4)5.6, 1 Montenegro5.5, 2 Slovakia5.4, 2 South-Africa5.4, 3 Lebanon (4)5.3, 1 Turkey5.3, 3 Algeria5.2, 1 Jordan5.2, 1 Romania5.2, 2 Bosnia5.1, 2 Estonia5.1, 3 Kenya (4)5.1, 1 Serbia5.1, 2 Uganda5.1, 1 Azerbaijan4.9, 1 Macedonia4.9, 2 Egypt4.8, 1 MaliÂ (4)4.8, 1 Ghana (4)4.7, 1 LatviaÂ 4.7, 3 Albania4.6, 1 Lithuania4.6, 3 Angola (4)4.3, 1 Pakistan4.3, 1 Russia4.3, 13 Bulgaria4.2, 3 Georgia4.1, 1 Belarus4, 2 Armenia3.7, 1 Ukraine3.6, 2 Moldova3.5, 2 Zimbabwe3.3, 1 Tanzania3.2, 1

Cool, Finland is number 4! -----Original Message----- From: piclist-bouncesKILLspammit.edu [.....piclist-bouncesKILLspam.....mit.edu] On Behalf Of Russell McMahon Sent: Tuesday, May 23, 2006 5:35 PM To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public. Subject: Re: [OT]: Thread about happiness I'm not happy that a lot of the data appears to be inaccessible! Nation list http://www1.eur.nl/fsw/happiness/hap_nat/findingreports/RankReport2006-1.htm North Korea doesn't feature. Nor Sudan. Egypt seems low. Guatemala is impressive. Colombia is unbelievable - I knew the stuff was meant to be good, but ... The ex Russian republics, and Russia, tend to rank consistently low.

Russell McMahon wrote: > I'm not happy that a lot of the data appears to be inaccessible! While some general tendencies may reflect a reality, this list is rather questionable, IMO. First the fact that "happiness" means something different to every person, in every culture, and terms like these are notoriously difficult to translate "culture-neutrally". Then the questions... the same problems, but multiplied. And added the issue that in some cultures exists a certain pressure to not talk about anything problematic and presenting an always "happy" image, whereas other cultures cultivate criticism and talking about problems. Who's to say who's happier? Gerhard

On Wed, 2006-05-24 at 09:35 -0300, Gerhard Fiedler wrote: > Russell McMahon wrote: > > > I'm not happy that a lot of the data appears to be inaccessible! > > While some general tendencies may reflect a reality, this list is rather > questionable, IMO. > > First the fact that "happiness" means something different to every person, > in every culture, and terms like these are notoriously difficult to > translate "culture-neutrally". > > Then the questions... the same problems, but multiplied. And added the > issue that in some cultures exists a certain pressure to not talk about > anything problematic and presenting an always "happy" image, whereas other > cultures cultivate criticism and talking about problems. Who's to say who's > happier? Agreed, and even worse then that, look at the sample sizes! How can a sample size of 3 (for Denmark) convey ANY meaning? TTYL

Gerhard Fiedler wrote: > Then the questions... the same problems, but multiplied. And added the > issue that in some cultures exists a certain pressure to not talk about > anything problematic and presenting an always "happy" image, whereas other > cultures cultivate criticism and talking about problems. Who's to say who's > happier? Heh, good point. And some cultures seem to change this over time. http://www.natetech.com/?p=100 - written back in 2003. Nate

Nate Duehr wrote: > And some cultures seem to change this over time. Definitely -- a culture is always a culture at a certain point in time. They never stay the same. > http://www.natetech.com/?p=100 - written back in 2003. We've all been there :) I think there's a difference (a big and crucial one) between being a "yes-man" and being really, truly positive. Being positive doesn't necessarily mean to accept everything, but it helps bringing the best out of people -- even (or especially) when one of those people just messed up big time. Whenever I meet someone I admire for his or her leadership, you can bet that /real/ being positive is part of that personality. It's a similar difference as there is between being politically correct and having worked enough on ones own issues so one doesn't have to be rude to others that touch them. Gerhard

On Wed, 24 May 2006 02:34:50 +1200, Russell McMahon wrote: >... > Egypt seems low. > Guatemala is impressive. > Colombia is unbelievable - I knew the stuff was meant to be good, but > ... > The ex Russian republics, and Russia, tend to rank consistently low. > > Philippines is well below US which directly contradicts what I've seen > elsewhere based on a reasonably detailed survey. > > Something is wrong with their basic methodology - they rate > Australians as happier than NZers. > > If sorting note that Germany and ? have . and not , > > Robert Mugabe will be happy that he's beaten the Tanzanians (just) I'm a bit amazed that Finland, Norway, Sweden are in the very high group - as I remember it, Scandinavia has among the highest suicide rates (I worked for a Finnish company once, and was told that it's so common that everyone knows someone who's killed themselves). I suppose if the unhappy ones deal with it like that, the rest are on average happier! I'm also surprised that we come as low as we do - it may be that we prefer to moan about things, but are actually not as unhappy as that suggests. Cheers, Howard Winter St.Albans, England