More on global happiness
Since Eric Weiner's book, The Geography of Bliss tops all kinds of bestseller lists, the concept of happiness--and the concept of measuring it--seems to be high priority. Why we are so obsessed with happiness is certainly interesting, but even more interesting, I think, is that--contrary to the spiritual teachings out there--money apparently does buy happiness.
As reported by the Holland Herald, using data from the World Database of Happiness, the top 5 happiest countries are also some of the wealthiest countries in the world, despite their lack of sunshine:
- Denmark
- Switzerland
- Austria
- Iceland
- Finland
On the flip side, the bottom 5 are some of the poorest:
- Tanzania
- Zimbabwe
- Moldova
- Ukraine
- Armenia
The interesting part is that most people experience a happiness dip between the ages of 30 and 50. Those are generally not the happiest years in a person's life. Those are also, paradoxically, the wealthiest years or a person's life. Hmmm.
###The happiest fliers in the world are the ones riding on the new Singapore Airlines A380:
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Feb 1st 2008 @ 12:11PM
Janelle said...
I love the idea of measuring a city's happiness. Check out the art installation project in Stockholm called Emotional Cities. The artist asks people to "How are you today?" and while he doesn't ask how much money they're making, he does project the city's happiness levels onto huge lit-up screens on the side of buildings. You can see the webcam to gauge how they're collectively feeling.
http://intelligenttravel.typepad.com/it/2008/01/how-is-your-cit.html
webcam: http://www.emotionalcities.com/blog/?page_id=20
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Feb 1st 2008 @ 10:18PM
Barb said...
I've been to Costa Rica twice the second time for 2 months. Saw Arenal erupt, swam in toasty warm water, walked deserted beaches except for a playful dog or 2. Road on horseback through the jungle. Casados for lunch, freshest fruit ever purchased for pennies. Would go back in a heart beat! So many quiet corners not yet invaded by tourists. Pleasure!
Unmatched beauty.
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Feb 2nd 2008 @ 10:32AM
ohmytyisis said...
the happiness in the scandinavian countries is just as likely to be related to the fact that many of the things that cause huge stress for people - medical care, quality education, retirement security - are all guaranteed by the government. they are free to concentrate on working to live, not working to survive.
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Feb 2nd 2008 @ 4:54PM
doxienboxie said...
Along with the 'in loco parentis' position of the government so aptly pointed out by ohmytyisis, might it also be that these countries typically stay aloof from world conflicts/politics? I can't imagine that they face the everyday American reality of terrorism!!
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