The World Happiness Report 2023: Are the World’s 'Happiest' Countries Really Happy?

American Thinker ^ | 07/05/2023 | Robert M. Schwartz

[SeekAndFind]

Happiness is not as simple as it sounds.

Philosophers advise that the pursuit of happiness may be a misguided aspiration, and psychologists warn that illusory happiness achieved through denial can harm your health.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network’s World Happiness Report 2023 has perplexed many people with its surprising national rankings of what it termed “happiness.” 

Because this significant work has spawned many commentaries and much confusion, it awaits clarification.

Finns and Israelis have little in common yet are now doubly bonded: Both ranked in the top ten on “happiness” – Finland first and Israel fourth – and many in both lands are bewildered by those numbers. A Finn interviewed about the WHR wondered why she felt unhappy if Finns were supposed to be the world’s happiest, noting that they view themselves as a rather gloomy lot and not inclined to undue smiling. I heard a quip that an extrovert in Nordic countries stares at someone else’s shoes rather than his own. Native Israelis are known as sabras, desert cacti that are prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside. They also aren’t prone to excess smiling, as easily observed in tense faces and periodic outbursts during Jerusalem’s rush hour.

So, how do we understand these ratings?

The explanation for this confusion is that the statistic used by the WHR did not measure happiness in the conventional sense of being emotionally happy. Its ranking was instead based on a question that addressed what is more accurately termed life satisfaction. The WHR asked more than 100,000 respondents in 137 countries to “evaluate their current life as a whole,” with 10 being the “best possible life” and 0 the “worst possible.” Evaluating one’s life “as a whole” is a broad concept that includes diverse factors open to interpretation

[SeekAndFind]

Before packing your bags and moving to one of the “happiest” countries, consider what you value most: the security and contentment provided by a high quality of life, but less emotional intensity; or warm, smiling, expressive people who exude positive emotions but can also blow off negative steam; or a meaningful life of high purpose in which people may not smile as much as in your hometown. An expatriate from Zimbabwe living in Finland lamented seeing fewer of the smiles of her native country. During a recent visit to Dubai, I encountered such a glowing smile when chatting with a barista from Kenya, fourth from the bottom in life satisfaction (134^th), but somehow sustaining a respectably healthy level of emotional happiness (50^th).

Americans with a rosy life satisfaction rank of 15th and emotional happiness of 56^th can learn something from these less privileged but positive transformers.

[KarlInOhio]

1. Take a large number of data values from a list of countries.
2. Sort list in desired order.
3. Have computer solve for the weighting function which will turn #1 into #2.
4. Presto! Proof you were right. Just don't let anyone ask why you have 6 times the number of loaves of rye bread eaten per year is in your formula.

The WHR asked more than 100,000 respondents in 137 countries to “evaluate their current life as a whole,” with 10 being the “best possible life” and 0 the “worst possible.”

The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true. - J. Robert Oppenheimer