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Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

bbc.com

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Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#51

Post by nkrisc »

larsiusprime wrote: post #22
nkrisc wrote: post #17

After visiting Norway in the summer, the only thing that would give me pause with regards to living there is the winter. I live at 41°N right now and I think winter has to much darkness. Imagining the opposite of the Norwegian summer I experienced is a bit much for me.

A lot of Norwegians go on vacation during the Winter; not unlike migratory birds flying south! Being able to afford vacation, and having government/employer support for it, probably has some impact on the happiness ratings.

That's a great point, I hadn't considered that (being an American). I was only there for two weeks, one in Oslo and the other in Bergen, but it was a fantastic country. The sheer amount of daylight in the summer was pretty great as well. Some day I'll go back in the winter to see the Northern lights and some starry skies.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#52

Post by greydius »

mi_noi_noi wrote: post #12

I am Norwegian and wonder how much of this is cultural. Most people here know that the rest of the world has much lower living standards. So for many it is perhaps rude or shameful to claim to be unhappy or dissatisfied. I know it says "subjective happiness" in the report, but I still suspect it might be an influence.

I believe one of the keys to happiness is simply appreciating what you have. I've met people that live very comfortable lives but are perpetually miserable because nothing is ever enough for them.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#53

Post by klausjensen »

tazjin wrote: post #36
officelineback wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. And on the flip side, you have the law of Jante. Or is it OK to proclaim one's self as super happy? Maybe Jante is more about material success?

Janteloven is more about not assuming you are better than others. Being happy is perfectly compatible with that.

I don't think that paints a very good picture of what Janteloven / Law of Jante is.

In many other cultures, success is celebrated. Janteloven is the opposite of that, ensuring that success is criticized an seen as undeserved or lucky.

I find it to be one of the worst aspects of Scandinavian culture, which is full of other good things, that I love.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#54

Post by marvin »

tazjin wrote: post #36
officelineback wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Interesting. And on the flip side, you have the law of Jante. Or is it OK to proclaim one's self as super happy? Maybe Jante is more about material success?

Janteloven is more about not assuming you are better than others. Being happy is perfectly compatible with that.

Starting a business and attempting to make millions, however, is not.

A colleague of mine has a childhood friend who owns a grocery store. Sensing that business was good, he opened a second grocery store in a neighboring town. It went great until the rest of the town knew he owned two stores -- then they started boycotting the second store, which was quickly forced to close its doors.

Janteloven, the climate and the institutionalized introversion are the worst aspects of Scandinavian life. Other than that, things are all in all very good.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#55

Post by matt4077 »

barking wrote: post #42

Does this explain why the Scandanavian countries are the number one preferred destination for refugees?

Both may be the result of similar policies, i. e. rather generous benefits for people in need.

For residents, it contributes to happiness to know that getting cancer would not just be life-threatening, but may also cost you your job, house, and savings.

For refugees, Scandinavia usually puts them up in modest apartments, provides a stipend in cash that covers necessities, and has a lot of programs to get them into work. The risk of your place going up in flames during the night is also a bit lower than elsewhere.

Other countries put refugees into rather filthy mass shelters, with just rows and rows of a hundred cots to sleep and instead of cash there's catering bought for $1 per meal.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#56

Post by matt4077 »

misja111 wrote: post #32
Yaggo wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Norway and United States have very similar GDP per capita. The important difference is that in Nordic countries the money has been divided more equally.

Norway's GDP per capita is quite a bit higher: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_(PPP)... Judging by the top entries in this list, GDP PP is a pretty good happiness predictor.

There's some good data on this. I seem to remember happiness responding to income up to about $80k/year and the curve continuing rather flat above that sum.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#57

Post by Vinkekatten »

larsiusprime wrote: post #22
nkrisc wrote: post #17

After visiting Norway in the summer, the only thing that would give me pause with regards to living there is the winter. I live at 41°N right now and I think winter has to much darkness. Imagining the opposite of the Norwegian summer I experienced is a bit much for me.

A lot of Norwegians go on vacation during the Winter; not unlike migratory birds flying south! Being able to afford vacation, and having government/employer support for it, probably has some impact on the happiness ratings.

Five weeks of vacation helps too.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#59

Post by jernfrost »

cies wrote: post #23

Of course the outcomes of this kind of research are largely dependent on way it is designed. There is a similar study that finds Latin American countries to be among the happiest. Discussed here: http://www.livescience.com/50209-happiest-countries-latin-am...

As someone living in Norway who has been quite interested in the subject and read a lot about it. My understanding is that nordic countries tend to come at the top, not because people are jumping around with joy in the streets. More likely to find that in South America or Africa. Nordic happiness is a mild happiness. It is really about having few people very dissatisfied with life rather than having super happy people.

There is little of the social conflict, poverty, health problems etc which plague many other countries.

That is what these things measure. Latin American countries would typically get pulled down because there is a signifiant portion of people who don't have very nice lives. This is what I've heard from foreigners living in northern Europe. They notice that there are very few people you observe who look genuinely dissatisfied with their life.

Re: Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

#60

Post by larsiusprime »

sametmax wrote: post #37
larsiusprime wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a dual Norwegian/American citizen, I would posit that a lot of that has to do with scale (ie, scale is necessary, though certainly not sufficient). The Norwegian government is on the same scale as many American municipal governments! And then you have local governments under that, that are obviously much smaller and thus even more hyper-local than many of their American counterparts. The larger your state gets, th…

Indeed, and this is why natality is an important topic for democracy. It's not just a matter of resources. Everything is easier to manage with less people, meaning more transparency, fairness and equality. The fact that we are not over populated doesn't mean we should not think seriously about decreasing our population size. It's probably a requirement to make the system evolve.

An alternate interpretation is that devolving political control to the smallest possible unit is an available option regardless of a land mass' total population size.
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