Ironically, I just found an article indicating that North Americans are among the world's happiest people. Specifically, the United States is the 16th happiest country in the world out of at least 97 countries. In addition, two of the countries in the top 10 are Latin American countries. I thought to myself, "Either I'm a pessimistic guy or the world, in general, is just
."In the article and YouTube video, Ronald Inglehart states that there are three factors contributing to happiness: prosperity, democracy, and high social tolerance. Findings include positive correlations between happiness and peace, and democracy and peace. However, Inglehart declares, is that "the most important determinant of happiness is the extent to which people have free choice in how to live their lives." This does not mean that economic prosperity and income are not important: the article notes that "lowest ranking nations struggle with legacies of authoritarian rule and widespread poverty" and that as prosperity rises, personal choice becomes more important.
Based on the article, Americans should generally be happy, but why do some of us feel just the opposite? It is because of our personal choices. We are given the opportunity to succeed but we rarely use it to our fullest extent because we are too caught up in expectations not just from ourselves but also from others. These expectations divert us from the outlets that we need to keep ourselves happy at the same time. Perhaps if we close our eyes, take a deep breath and focus clearly for even a minute, we will realize that we don't have it as bad as we think and that happiness is always right around the corner - we were just too blind to see it.
3 comments:
This is a well-written and compelling post, and it raises questions such as: Could the US's 'happiness' ranking be inversely related to its economic ranking? How does one quantify happiness? (I know we can qualify it, but how, then, can it possibly be quantified when the potentially 'happy' people might have very different qualifying definitions of this term?) Is 'happiness' a useful category by which to reflect on or judge our lives? (What other categories might be more useful?) You use the outside article very clearly and smartly. Nicely done!
I find it fascinating that you, Mr. Schaberg, and even the article describe happiness as some sort of personal quantity rather than a momentary state of feeling. I do not believe that happiness can be so easily measured because humans rarely honestly stop and think about how happy they are with their life. I do agree that happiness can certainly be associated with materials or abstract terms but it is nowhere as permanent nor personally attachable.
For instance, I am happy when I win a hand in poker, and I get frustrated when I lose. I cannot quantify the amount of happiness poker provides for me because my feelings fluctuate incredibly rapidly when I play. Such as with life, I do not believe people can measure happiness so easily if at all. Surely I can recall moments in my life when I was happy and when I was sad, but that does not make me a happy person nor a sad person. It just makes me someone who is alive.
You do have a point that our momentary feelings of happiness can often be overcome by expectations and standards. Sometimes I expect to win in poker, and feel nothing of it when I do. I absolutely agree that if we rid ourselves of these expectations, we may receive more momentary feelings of happiness. Perhaps it is not the amount of happiness that you and the article should be quantifying, but rather the ability to be aware the feeling.
I completely agree with you, Truman: I *don't* think that 'happiness' is a quantifiable thing. That's why I wonder if it is a useful word to attach to things like governmental discourse; how can we 'pursue' something that is absolutely unable to be quantified or 'placed' in any reliably physical realm? My point is exactly yours: "it is nowhere as permanent nor personally attachable." This is why I think it is not a particularly useful concept to try to 'measure' in a person or in a whole country. We would do better to find other ways to *describe* our seeming 'happiness'—such as how you do in this comment. And you are right: awareness of one's feelings is a major (if difficult) part of this.
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