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We know that different stuff makes different people happy. But I am sure we can get some metric that represents most people and this can be used to measure the

We know that different stuff makes different people happy. But I am sure we can get some metric that represents most people and this can be used to measure the overall happiness. As long as we don't try to push the value system of most people to individuals that dissent I think we would be fine.

tokenadult 17y ago
We know that different stuff makes different people happy. Another HN participant recommended the book Stumbling on Happiness http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/gilbert/ http://www.randomhouse.com/kvpa/gilbert/ in a previous thread. I have just started reading the book, and I agree with reviewers that the author has a lot of research-based insight into what makes people happy.
anamax 17y ago
> As long as we don't try to push the value system of most people to individuals that dissent I think we would be fine. You clearly don't have much experience with actual people. > But I am sure we can get some metric that represents most people and this can be used to measure the overall happiness. No need for that. Just measure each person's happiness, no matter how they define it, and sum that over all people. Yes, I am assuming that you can measure a person's happiness, but if you can't, how do you know what makes "most people" happy? Let me suggest that what's likely to happen is that some folks will define happiness as what they like and/or think that other people should like....