Norway, the happiest country in the world? I’m not so sure
Daniel Simonsen
Yes, yes, they are. Because despite appearances, proximity and similarity they are also absolutely sure that they are not Swedish.
Norway, the happiest country in the world? I’m not so sure
Daniel Simonsen
Yes, yes, they are. Because despite appearances, proximity and similarity they are also absolutely sure that they are not Swedish.
And strangely enough, all the Swedes I know are perfectly happy that they’re not Norwegian.
and not in the EU.
Old joke: Norwegian, Dane and Swede shopwrecked together. By the end of the week, Dane has formed a coop, Norwegian built a boat and the Swede is still waiting to be introduced.
I really doubt about the usefulness of happiness figures, surely if people are so happy in Denmark,Norway etc, then why do they need to drink so much? Happiness is very subjective and it could be that they just think they are happier rather than they live in wonderful country. (Or we would be that happy if we drank more).
I know a lot of Colombians and it is no surprise that they are often the happiest country – they look on the bright side of things a lot – not that they have the best country in the world.
A conversation some years ago.
Norwegian: you Englishmen have done some great work.
Me: we are not English, we are both Scots.
Him: after all these years why do you still make the distinction?
Me: all you Swedes say that.
> surely if people are so happy in Denmark, Norway etc, then why do they need to drink so much?
Perhaps it’s reverse causality: they are happy because they drink so much?
Steve Sailer covered it neatly though:
He goes on to cite an article in Modern Drunkard magazine, which compares drink culture in sub-Saharan Africa with that in the west:
There’s plenty to interest regular commenters at both links.
“Rankings aren’t based on actual happiness, but instead on what Jeffrey Sachs thinks ought to contribute to happiness”
Haha. That part always gets buried down in the depths of the articles, long after most have moved onto their next piece of clickbait.
Except the Richard Layard (ie, UN) ones aren’t. They’re on Gallup polls about self-reported happiness.
Tim – “Except the Richard Layard (ie, UN) ones aren’t. They’re on Gallup polls about self-reported happiness.”
Which, of course, isn’t necessarily the same as actual happiness.
There are some guilt-ridden societies where it is seen as bad form or shaming to admit unhappiness, especially if you appear to have advantages others don’t and so ought to be happy or at least satisfied with your lot.
As an extreme example, see those Scandinavian and German women who have been raped by immigrants but feel disinclined to blame the rapists because they have supposedly had such a hard time in comparison to their own lives.
@JS, March 28, 2017 at 4:24 pm
+1
Those “Happy” countries have higher suicide rates than “Unhappy” UK
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_suicide_rate