[volkman10]

World’s happiest countries in 2024.

Finland is once again the world’s happiest country.
Finland’s Nordic neighbors also earned reliably high scores with Denmark (No. 2), Iceland (No. 3) and Sweden (No. 4) in the top five, and Norway (No. 7) comfortably ranking in the top 10.

However, the top 20 has some new entrants—Costa Rica and Kuwait—matched by the departures of the U.S. and Germany from the same ranks.

A correlation between population size and happiness can be seen clearly when looking at the first 20 spots on the happiness rankings.

In the top 10 only the Netherlands and Australia have populations over 15 million. In the top 20, only Canada and the UK have populations over 30 million.

Afghanistan, ranked last, has the lowest happiness on the scale (1.7) and is the only Asian country in the bottom 10, which is mostly populated by nations in Africa.

India is ranked at 126.




Link:

[dailydriver]

Am I allowed to be unhappy because of the general sultriness of my compatriots or should I be happy that we are not amongst the least happy nations of the world? All this while, I was of the belief that happiness is a state of mind and is neither configurable nor measurable. But where there's a will to quantify and slot an emotion, there must certainly be ways of doing it.

That said, does this survey really reflect the actual mood of the nation? Ten years after being promised the elusive acche din, are we not better off than we were then?

[binand]

Originally Posted by dailydriver

That said, does this survey really reflect the actual mood of the nation?

No. Such surveys are primarily conducted to put the surveying agency in the news, so that those who need usable surveys have a brand in their mind to recall. Safe for them to do so because these cannot be validated and cannot be refuted. As long as your purported "statistical results" match the worldview / prejudices of the decision makers in your target market your reputation is established and your business will boom.

For example - Gallup, the agency doing this survey, claims to conduct face-to-face interviews with a sample size of about 2100 in India. That averages to approx 2.6 respondents/district, or 3.9 respondents/PC. How can that be any sort of a representative sample? It does not even amount to 1 respondent per (major) religion or 1 per SEC class.

[dragonfire]

I do not know when the above cited survey was held, but I can say for sure that from 2024 the majority of people in India are happy.

Almost all of the real problems our country had faced has been solved, all the historical troublemakers have been shown their place, and we are only a step away from making the current bliss last until eternity.

Why wouldn't the country be happy with the current state of things?

[TROOPER]

Originally Posted by 14000rpm

And the Finns are very thrilled.

The Almost Finns like me are thrilled and agree. At the risk of sounding Philosophical, I'll say this anyway - Happiness is a state of mind. .

Going a bit OT here

Since Finns are leading I wonder why Valterri Bottas went to Australia in search of some extra happiness Leaving Mercedes completely changed him I guess.

https://youtu.be/xVhRm0eJ4A4?feature=shared

PS: F1 fans would enjoy this video.

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by TROOPER

Going a bit OT here

Since Finns are leading I wonder why Valterri Bottas went to Australia in search of some extra happiness

A Finn's love for Sun is directly proportional to his/her income.

• Hakkinen lives in Monaco.
• Raikkonen lives in Italy.

They all visit Finland often and are spotted here and there but don't really live here all year round.

[antz.bin]

Isn't happiness relative?

If I am bored a lot staying at home all day (WFH?) even a sabji-bhaji ride on the bike to the shops or simply playing pakda-pakdi with my 4yr old in the park makes me happy.

In this world of on-demand dopamine and instant gratification, maybe the secret to being happy is boredom. If your baseline dopamine levels are low, even a small hit can give immense happiness.

I have taken small steps to ensure my baseline dopamine levels are lower.

Steps such as disabling shorts on the YouTube App and on the browser.

Unfollowing everyone I do not personally know from Instagram. Helped make Instagram a lot more boring .

Using Ad blockers and YouTube Premium so I don't get shown content that I don't want to watch.

Whatsapp actually changed the position of the "Status" section to the bottom specifically for people like me who forgot that it even exists .

Something as simple as a bedtime mode that turns my phone screen black and white after 10:30 PM so I don't spend time scrolling mindlessly when in bed. Without all those bright colours, the digital world is a lot less interesting.

[ValarMorghulis]

I can't find a more bunkum happiness index in the world.

Agreed we Indians aren't exactly the happiest but basing your results on a 1000-person survey is hilarious/ ludicrous to say the least.

So, the survey percentage or people surveyed vs total population is:
Happiest Country-1: Finland - Surveyed 0.018% of population.
Happiest Country-2: Denmark - Surveyed 0.017% of population.
Happiest Country-3: Iceland - Surveyed 0.269% of population.

Meh, not good but OK.
Now come to India:
Happiest Country-126: India- Surveyed 0.00000709% of population.

That means Indians are less happy than:
1. Libya-66: Currently has travel advisory due to kidnapping and terrorism.
2. Russia-72: Currently at war with folks being commissioned to fight.
3. Venezuela-79: Travel advisory due crime, civil unrest, kidnapping, and the arbitrary enforcement of local laws (hyper inflation).
4. Mozambique-90: Travel advisory for violent crime, such as mugging. Terrorist groups in northern Mozambique continue to be active. Public areas may be attacked with little or no warning.
The less I say about Iraq, Iran, Palestine, Ukraine, Pakistan, Gambia, Niger, Chad, and Liberia the better.

I would take this survey with a stadium full of salt. My MBA surveys had more credibility than this.

[extreme_torque]

Originally Posted by dragonfire

I do not know when the above cited survey was held, but I can say for sure that from 2024 the majority of people in India are happy.

Curious what the "majority" is? And do you speak for this "majority"?

Originally Posted by dragonfire

Almost all of the real problems our country had faced has been solved, all the historical troublemakers have been shown their place, and we are only a step away from making the current bliss last until eternity.

Why wouldn't the country be happy with the current state of things?

I dont know if it meant as sarcasm or not but if i did miss it, I apologise right at the outset.

[Fuldagap]

Reading this thread promptly reminded me of a post from another thread by bhpian
turbo_delight on fuel pricing.

Happiness is relative.
Link (The Official Fuel Prices Thread)

I rememeber a reporter in UP asking a fruit vendor. Converstaion was something like this :-

R: Are you happy?
FV: Yes. (Big grin on his face.)
R: Why ? Has your sales increased ?
FV : No.
R: Has sales gone down?
FV: Yes
R: Then ?
FV: I am happy. See around whats happening.
R: Ok. Are you able to save more for your family?
FV: No
R: Then ?
FV: bas. aise hi...

[MyLife_MyCar]

Originally Posted by Fuldagap

Reading this thread promptly reminded me of a post from another thread by bhpian
turbo_delight on fuel pricing.

Happiness is relative.
Link (The Official Fuel Prices Thread)

Oh God! The fruit vendor did not realize that the reporter is actually the Happiness Surveyor!!

All - For the sake of the report, let's just laugh and move on!

[14000rpm]

Originally Posted by ValarMorghulis

I can't find a more bunkum happiness index in the world.


I would take this survey with a stadium full of salt. My MBA surveys had more credibility than this.

I agree. Everytime this survey comes out and puts Finland up top, all the small talk Finn's have over coffee and in Sauna is - How? why? for what?

Nobody has a clue even in the so-called Happiest Country in the world.

[StarrySky]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gt94AnJ8urA

[Mystic]

Let me quote my grand father’s words on what is happiness. There are no copyrights to his quotes.

“My teaching, if that is the word you want to use, has no copyright. You are free to reproduce, distribute, interpret, misinterpret, distort, garble, do what you like, even claim authorship, without my consent or the permission of anybody.”
— U.G. Krishnamurti



UG on 'Happiness':

“Happiness is a cultural input there. Is there any such thing as happiness? I would say, no. So, the quest for happiness is a cultural input, and that is the common desire that we know exists everywhere, in every part of the world. That is what we all want, and that want is the most important want in human beings everywhere. Happiness, if you want to use that word, is like any other sensation. The moment thought separates itself from what is called the sensation of happiness, the demand to keep that sensation going longer than its natural duration also occurs with it. So, any sensation, however extraordinary, however pleasant it may be, is rejected by the body. Keeping that sensation going longer than its duration of life is destroying the sensitivity of the sensory perceptions and sensitivity of this living organism. That is the battle that is going on there. If you do not know what happiness is, you will never be unhappy.”-UG

[SmartCat]

Perhaps they did the survey in India just after exam results came out? No Indian parent is happy with their kids getting "just 84%" these days.

On a serious note, there will be some correlation or connection between 'happiness index' and 'per capita GDP' (India ranking 138)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o...al)_per_capita

Basically, there are a large number poor people in India, both on absolute and percentage basis. If the sample is able to capture India's financial demographics accurately, then such a low ranking is plausible.