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The Real World's Happiest Countries, not the utopian world of Forbes and Heritage Foundation: http://www.happyplanetindex.org http://www.happyplanetindex.org

by borism 16y ago

jhamburger 16y ago
"The index combines environmental impact with human well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which, country by country, people live long and happy lives." That doesn't sound like it's measuring happiness to me.
- borism 16y ago
  It is measuring the sustainability of happiness. No point in being the happiest country in the world by throwing largest feast party ever if next year half of your population dies from obesity complications or something.
  - jhamburger 16y ago
    That list seems to mainly just punish the biggest consumers and reward exporters. Meanwhile, if the USA (#114) decided to be responsible and stop consuming so much, a lot of people in China (#10) Vietnam (#5) Brazil (#9) and Saudi Arabia (#13) would become very unhappy very quickly.
    - borism 16y ago
      that's absolutely correct.
panacea 16y ago
Years ago I visited Vanuatu. A small pacific island. The people there were incredibly laid-back and friendly. When traveling around the island by bus, the people in the fields would literally look up as we passed and wave. When I asked a tour guide why, he said it was because they were happy and wanted to wave to us because as tourists they knew we were contributing to their economy. At the time, I thought they seemed to be the happiest people I'd ever met living on an island paradise. Did a google search for 'happy vanuatu' and lo-and-behold: "The 178-nation "Happy Planet Index" lists the south Pacific island of Vanuatu as the happiest nation on the planet, while the UK is ranked 108th." (2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5169448.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5169448.stm The submitted article is bollocks.

The Real World's Happiest Countries, not the utopian world of Forbes and Heritage Foundation: http://www.happyplanetindex.org http://www.happyplanetindex.org

by borism 16y ago

The Real World's Happiest Countries, not the utopian world of Forbes and Heritage Foundation: http://www.happyplanetindex.org http://www.happyplanetindex.org

jhamburger 16y ago

"The index combines environmental impact with human well-being to measure the environmental efficiency with which, country by country, people live long and happy lives." That doesn't sound like it's measuring happiness to me.

borism 16y ago
It is measuring the sustainability of happiness. No point in being the happiest country in the world by throwing largest feast party ever if next year half of your population dies from obesity complications or something.
- jhamburger 16y ago
  That list seems to mainly just punish the biggest consumers and reward exporters. Meanwhile, if the USA (#114) decided to be responsible and stop consuming so much, a lot of people in China (#10) Vietnam (#5) Brazil (#9) and Saudi Arabia (#13) would become very unhappy very quickly.
  - borism 16y ago
    that's absolutely correct.

panacea 16y ago

Years ago I visited Vanuatu. A small pacific island. The people there were incredibly laid-back and friendly. When traveling around the island by bus, the people in the fields would literally look up as we passed and wave. When I asked a tour guide why, he said it was because they were happy and wanted to wave to us because as tourists they knew we were contributing to their economy. At the time, I thought they seemed to be the happiest people I'd ever met living on an island paradise. Did a google search for 'happy vanuatu' and lo-and-behold: "The 178-nation "Happy Planet Index" lists the south Pacific island of Vanuatu as the happiest nation on the planet, while the UK is ranked 108th." (2006) http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5169448.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/5169448.stm The submitted article is bollocks.