5 ms·
Ask HN: How happy are you?
People on HN seem to be ambitious do-gooders in tech related fields. I'm curious how happy these types of people generally are.
Let's use the 2-8 scale:
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- adamzerner 13y ago2
- adamzerner 13y ago3
- adamzerner 13y ago4
- adamzerner 13y ago5
- adamzerner 13y ago6
- jackgolding 13y agothere is always one...
- adamzerner 13y ago7
- adamzerner 13y ago8
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- clef 13y ago8
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- bowerbird 13y agowhich is the happy end, and which is the unhappy end? didn't say, did you? so how do you interpret the data? you don't. because you don't know how each person might have interpreted the scale. research demands precision. -bowerbird
- adamzerner 13y ago8 is the high end. Sorry, I assumed that the convention would be clear.
- ponyous 13y agoIsn't it clear that most of the ratings use higher number for "better" vote, and can't you assume happy equals better in this case? Were you really unsure about it?
- bowerbird 13y agoi saw ratings all along the scale; that is still the case. and i don't know, in advance, how "happy" people here are, so even if there _was_ some skew, i couldn't interpret it. and if i did, it might be "experimenter confirmation bias" -- one of the most insidious and pernicious forms of bias. and no, it's impossible to know which way the scale runs, because it can run either way. (higher numbers are _not_ always "better", because "top" is often associated with "the top of the charts", where lower numbers are "better". and when i say "i look out for #1", you know what i mean.) it's also unwise to assume that "happy" equals "better", because this is self-report data, and do we really want people to _report_ they are happy if they really are not? depressed people tell us such pressure to "just be happy" becomes an additional source of stress on the experience. besides, even if _i_ think i know which way the scale runs, the problem is that i don't have any idea how the people who are _answering_ the survey believe that the scale runs. all of this is straightforward to anyone who has studied survey-research; it's totally obvious and noncontroversial, certainly not the sort of thing that should be _down-voted_. (yes, it was, indeed, believe it or not. so be it, folks.) i also didn't post it with any "attitude", and i note that the original poster accepted the note without much fuss... -bowerbird
- taigeair 13y agoIt's 8. This isn't that accurate because I just finished a 3 hour bike ride.
- 27182818284 13y agoFYI, You can submit a new poll, unless maybe you're under a karma threshold of some level: http://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll http://news.ycombinator.com/newpoll
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- klaut 13y ago"happy" is not something constant so it is difficult for me to evaluate it as a whole. For example, right now, as I am about to go to work, my happiness level is at around 4. But When weekend comes and I am doing my thing, then it can go up to 7.
- rk0567 13y ago8
- alrmd 13y ago4.5
- DonGateley 13y agoHappy is too fragile and illusory a state. Content works much, much better and I find myself remarkably content considering the heights I reached and the bottom I barely pulled myself out of. I don't miss the bling at all and am very pleased with how little it takes to make me content. On the content scale I'd call it a 7.5. Happy I no longer understand and am very wary of.
- tylerpachal 13y agoAs a student with the summer semester on the horizon, being able to pick new classes and things to learn about makes me happy and gives me something to look forward to... But its snowing out right now. 8.5