Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Happiness report: Norway is the happiest place on earth

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

61–70 of 168 posts

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

#61

Post by victornomad »

I find these studies so biased. Asking questions trying to figure out how positive a person is, its just a bit non sense without taking into account culture.

Im from south Europe where in my opinion we are quite happy, but at the same time we love to complain. Its just cultural, it doesnt mean that we hate our lifes, we just like to be negative some times :) I lived as well in a few countries of that list and I cannot say they are happier. I think they act happier.

Answering a "How are you today?" question differs among countries

In some countries people answer "awesome, and you?" and perhaps he/she just broke up with the couple.

In some other countries you would answe "Man, I feel so unlucky and terrible" but actually you just won lottery but rather than a million you got few thousand euros :)

just cultural... :)

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

#62

Post by barking »

matt4077 wrote: post #55
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 wo…

>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.

Which countries do that?

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

#63

Post by jernfrost »

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.

1) Happiness is not as subjective as people think. Research suggest that what people state about their own happiness correlates very well with how friends and colleagues would describe a person as.

2) Having lived abroad extensively and traveled around many places keenly trying to observe these things I'd say Norwegian happiness is real. But we have a tendency in Norway to take every good thing for granted and complain a lot. E.g. I noticed when in North American, despite equal wealth, there is a lot more hardship and stress. You can even tell just by looking at people. People are stressed out about over demanding jobs, risk of losing health care, crime, dysfunctional politics etc.

We Norwegians have among the best work-life balances of anywhere. Works doesn't stress people out as much as many other places. And the government provided welfare services means we worry a lot less about stuff than people in the rest of the world.

3) Another thing I notice is that people trust each other to a high level in Norway. In many other parts of the world suspicion and trust grinds on people. It can imagine it is exaushting dealing with a constant paranoia where other people, the government, the police etc can never be trusted.

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

#65

Post by mistermann »

charlesdm wrote: post #35
sn41 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am an Indian who have lived for a while in NZ. Please do not chug on this Kool-Aid that NZ is not corrupt. Part of the reason why real estate in Auckland is overpriced is because the government deliberately does not formulate a legislation that forbids non-residents from buying up property. Please petition for this reasonable legislation. Who does the current policy enrich? It is your country. I think you should fi…

Corruption does come in all shapes and sizes, but what you just described doesn't sound like corruption to me. Selling off properties to foreign owners isn't necessarily bad policy (it can bring in foreign capital, that is then transferred to a local owner or resident)

When it gets to the point where locals can't afford to place to live, what would be the correct word to use?

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

#66

Post by colmvp »

greydius wrote: post #52
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.

At times, I think social media helps perpetuate this unhappiness, especially when we have a tendency to only showcase the best in public. Getting married. Having a kid. Happy moments. Vacations. Career achievements. Keeping up with the Joneses has been a term for over a 100 years.

Fantastic events are wonderful to see in small doses, but when it's a constant stream of oneupsmanship of who is doing better than others, it's easy to get caught up and think, "Gee, everyone is leading such incredible lives, why aren't I doing the same?" And to temporarily fill that need by posting something yourself, which only perpetuates the cycle.

I found QoL improvements when I chose to abstain from Facebook in December, specifically an increase in mindfulness and satisfaction with my daily life. Of course, that doesn't mean I don't encourage self-improvement, but I think the stress/angst that can arise from social networks can be counterproductive to ones own journey.

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

#67

Post by icantdrive55 »

sn41 wrote: post #18
mistermann wrote: post #8

1. Norway 146. Yemen 2. Denmark 147. South Sudan 3. Iceland 148. Liberia 4. Switzerland 149. Guinea 5. Finland 150. Togo 6. Netherlands 151. Rwanda 7. Canada 152. Syria 8. New Zealand 153. Tanzania 9. Australia 154. Burundi 10. Sweden Will be interesting to see how spots 7, 8, 9 hold up going forward as many/most middle class people in these 3 countries increasingly find they cannot afford even a very modest home wit…

I am an Indian who have lived for a while in NZ. Please do not chug on this Kool-Aid that NZ is not corrupt. Part of the reason why real estate in Auckland is overpriced is because the government deliberately does not formulate a legislation that forbids non-residents from buying up property. Please petition for this reasonable legislation. Who does the current policy enrich? It is your country. I think you should fi…

We have the exact same policy in the United States. Anyone can pick up a phone and buy realestate.

No one calls it corruption here. It's just capitalism? This has bothered me for years. I first learned about it in a realestate law class. My hand went straight up. Nothing has changed.

(They passed a feel good measure about a year ago that supposedly vets the money. I can't think of a country I can own realestate with a money transfer.)

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

#68

Post by mistermann »

3pt14159 wrote: post #39
mistermann wrote: post #8

1. Norway 146. Yemen 2. Denmark 147. South Sudan 3. Iceland 148. Liberia 4. Switzerland 149. Guinea 5. Finland 150. Togo 6. Netherlands 151. Rwanda 7. Canada 152. Syria 8. New Zealand 153. Tanzania 9. Australia 154. Burundi 10. Sweden Will be interesting to see how spots 7, 8, 9 hold up going forward as many/most middle class people in these 3 countries increasingly find they cannot afford even a very modest home wit…

Plenty of affordable places, just not near Toronto or Vancouver. If I wanted a less exciting life I'd buy a two bedroom in Halifax or Quebec City. Take a look at Saint-Roch in Quebec City, for example. Two bedroom hip condo is around $200k. No car necessary, just walk around to buy stuff. In Halifax it would be around $240k for something downtown and walkable. In Toronto you'd be paying around $800k for these types o…

Indeed, there are still some places in the country where you can purchase a home for a reasonable amount. Anywhere remotely desirable however has seen a tremendous decrease in affordability (median price vs median income).

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

#70

Post by nommm-nommm »

sn41 wrote: post #18
mistermann wrote: post #8

1. Norway 146. Yemen 2. Denmark 147. South Sudan 3. Iceland 148. Liberia 4. Switzerland 149. Guinea 5. Finland 150. Togo 6. Netherlands 151. Rwanda 7. Canada 152. Syria 8. New Zealand 153. Tanzania 9. Australia 154. Burundi 10. Sweden Will be interesting to see how spots 7, 8, 9 hold up going forward as many/most middle class people in these 3 countries increasingly find they cannot afford even a very modest home wit…

I am an Indian who have lived for a while in NZ. Please do not chug on this Kool-Aid that NZ is not corrupt. Part of the reason why real estate in Auckland is overpriced is because the government deliberately does not formulate a legislation that forbids non-residents from buying up property. Please petition for this reasonable legislation. Who does the current policy enrich? It is your country. I think you should fi…

>the government deliberately does not formulate a legislation that forbids non-residents from buying up property.

This is not even remotely corruption.

I'd be interested in a city in a first world country that that actually downright forbids non-residents/foreigners from buying property. I very much doubt one exists.

Post reply on HN