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March 15, 2018 9:17 AM Subscribe
The latest world happiness report (170 page PDF, supporting website) by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network. BBC: “This year's happiest place on Earth is Finland, according to an annual UN report - toppling Norway from the top spot.” Guardian: “For the first time the UN also examined the happiness levels of immigrants in each country, and found Finland also scored highest.” Washington Post: “Perhaps tired of winning, the United States falls in World Happiness rankings.” Telegraph: “Happiness was defined by six factors: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity.” Huffington Post: “The Nordic ‘secret’ to happiness lies in their ability to limit misery – that is, people who report very low levels of happiness.”
Yet Finland has one of the highest suicide rates of the developed countries.
posted by zeikka at 9:24 AM on March 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by zeikka at 9:24 AM on March 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Yay! Al list of many countries where I want to move but can’t!
posted by terrapin at 9:32 AM on March 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
posted by terrapin at 9:32 AM on March 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
Yet Finland has one of the highest suicide rates of the developed countries.
A lot of the country is very northerly indeed, and seasonal affective disorder is no joke.
posted by Dysk at 9:44 AM on March 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
A lot of the country is very northerly indeed, and seasonal affective disorder is no joke.
posted by Dysk at 9:44 AM on March 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
Chapter 7 of the report ("America’s Health Crisis and the Easterlin Paradox") was an interesting research-based analysis of some of the reasons why the USA has slid down to 18th. The recent increase in opioid deaths makes for grim reading alone.
Wondering where the UK (currently 19th) will be in the next report. Looking at the not-good state of things currently, am guessing lower.
posted by Wordshore at 9:57 AM on March 15, 2018
Wondering where the UK (currently 19th) will be in the next report. Looking at the not-good state of things currently, am guessing lower.
posted by Wordshore at 9:57 AM on March 15, 2018
It might have been here on Metafilter where someone said it makes more sense if you think of it as a list of "most content" citizens rather than "happiest".
posted by riruro at 9:58 AM on March 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
posted by riruro at 9:58 AM on March 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Being Finnish is existentially miserable but thanks to excellent social support the reality of the situation is quite a positive one by external indicators. We're begrudgingly happy.
I've not had a chance to read through the full report but does "happiness" actually include factors such as mental well being? I fully appreciate that all the factors listed make for an environment of happiness but there is a huge chasm between potential for happiness and actual feeling not just content but fulfilled in life.
(FWIW, I left Finland over 15 years ago which in turn may have helped everyone else feel happier about staying.)
posted by slimepuppy at 9:59 AM on March 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
I've not had a chance to read through the full report but does "happiness" actually include factors such as mental well being? I fully appreciate that all the factors listed make for an environment of happiness but there is a huge chasm between potential for happiness and actual feeling not just content but fulfilled in life.
(FWIW, I left Finland over 15 years ago which in turn may have helped everyone else feel happier about staying.)
posted by slimepuppy at 9:59 AM on March 15, 2018 [5 favorites]
Eating breakfast or dinner,
Or snack lunch in the hall,
Finland, Finland, Finland,
Finland has it all.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:18 AM on March 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Or snack lunch in the hall,
Finland, Finland, Finland,
Finland has it all.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:18 AM on March 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
happiness lies in their ability to limit misery
Three cheers for numbness. Yaay. Yaaaaaay. Yay.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:25 AM on March 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Three cheers for numbness. Yaay. Yaaaaaay. Yay.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 11:25 AM on March 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Yet Finland has one of the highest suicide rates of the developed countries.
I know all about Finland from my four days in Helsinki a few years ago (*cough*) so I will say that one thing that struck me really deeply was the Chapel of Silence at the Kamppi shopping centre. It's ecumenical and, from the site: "The lobby of the chapel is a place where anyone can meet and speak with clerical or social workers without an appointment. "
I felt like the care for a municipality to have a place for people to calm down and be still, and also to access supports right in the middle of downtown, in a beautiful, architecturally thought out space spoke a lot about what real attention to help is about.
I have a Swedish last name though and the number of times I had the differences between the Swedish ways (WRONG) and the Finnish ways (RIGHT) was amusing. So I might be mildly suspicious of self-rating these things.
Signed, probably equally smug but with more apologies attached Canadian
posted by warriorqueen at 12:06 PM on March 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
I know all about Finland from my four days in Helsinki a few years ago (*cough*) so I will say that one thing that struck me really deeply was the Chapel of Silence at the Kamppi shopping centre. It's ecumenical and, from the site: "The lobby of the chapel is a place where anyone can meet and speak with clerical or social workers without an appointment. "
I felt like the care for a municipality to have a place for people to calm down and be still, and also to access supports right in the middle of downtown, in a beautiful, architecturally thought out space spoke a lot about what real attention to help is about.
I have a Swedish last name though and the number of times I had the differences between the Swedish ways (WRONG) and the Finnish ways (RIGHT) was amusing. So I might be mildly suspicious of self-rating these things.
Signed, probably equally smug but with more apologies attached Canadian
posted by warriorqueen at 12:06 PM on March 15, 2018 [6 favorites]
Happiness was defined by six factors: income, healthy life expectancy, social support, freedom, trust and generosity
I wonder why happiness wasn't defined in, you know, the actual way? As having quality relationships in life? (everybody should know by now that income is, if in any way, mostly inversely related to happiness)
posted by Laotic at 12:50 PM on March 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
I wonder why happiness wasn't defined in, you know, the actual way? As having quality relationships in life? (everybody should know by now that income is, if in any way, mostly inversely related to happiness)
posted by Laotic at 12:50 PM on March 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
Or, after preview, these are the countries where, according to all circumstances, people SHOULD be feeling happy, but I have a hunch that people in poorer countries (like in Africa, which uniformly ranks towards the bottom), are generally more happy in their life.
posted by Laotic at 12:54 PM on March 15, 2018
posted by Laotic at 12:54 PM on March 15, 2018
Well I just moved from the US to Canada to those two just got a little closer together.
posted by Space Coyote at 1:15 PM on March 15, 2018
posted by Space Coyote at 1:15 PM on March 15, 2018
(everybody should know by now that income is, if in any way, mostly inversely related to happiness)
Yeah, no. Maybe past a certain point. But for an awfully large portion of people, that just doesn't hold.
posted by Dysk at 1:47 PM on March 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
Yeah, no. Maybe past a certain point. But for an awfully large portion of people, that just doesn't hold.
posted by Dysk at 1:47 PM on March 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
(everybody should know by now that income is, if in any way, mostly inversely related to happiness)
"Money can't buy happiness but it's a damn good down payment..."
posted by dreamlanding at 2:52 PM on March 15, 2018
"Money can't buy happiness but it's a damn good down payment..."
posted by dreamlanding at 2:52 PM on March 15, 2018
Finland? No. I've seen the movies. Not a happy face to be found.
posted by CCBC at 2:55 PM on March 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
posted by CCBC at 2:55 PM on March 15, 2018 [1 favorite]
everybody should know by now that income is, if in any way, mostly inversely related to happiness
Two people have tried to argue that with me before, but on both occasions when I've said okay, let's try an experiment that involves you giving me most of your money, they quickly backed away.
(If anything is still convinced and wants to try it I accept Paypal and, I guess, bags of money in the post)
posted by Wordshore at 3:16 PM on March 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
Two people have tried to argue that with me before, but on both occasions when I've said okay, let's try an experiment that involves you giving me most of your money, they quickly backed away.
(If anything is still convinced and wants to try it I accept Paypal and, I guess, bags of money in the post)
posted by Wordshore at 3:16 PM on March 15, 2018 [3 favorites]
income def makes you happier, and continues to do so but things flatten out somewhere around like $70-150k per year (depending on cost of living, and all else being equal).
i personally imagine there's a jump in happiness once you hit "fuck-you money", then it flattens out again.
and happiness probably starts to grow linearly again once you get to the point of billions where you can fund a private space program or whatever. but hundred-millionaires and billionaires would be very hard to study using the quantitative tools of social science, and anyway at that point you are more the avatar of a large corporation than you are a human with a personal fortune.
posted by vogon_poet at 4:00 PM on March 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
i personally imagine there's a jump in happiness once you hit "fuck-you money", then it flattens out again.
and happiness probably starts to grow linearly again once you get to the point of billions where you can fund a private space program or whatever. but hundred-millionaires and billionaires would be very hard to study using the quantitative tools of social science, and anyway at that point you are more the avatar of a large corporation than you are a human with a personal fortune.
posted by vogon_poet at 4:00 PM on March 15, 2018 [2 favorites]
I'm one generation too far from my Finnish family to claim citizenship. Very sad panda.
posted by bendy at 9:44 PM on March 15, 2018
posted by bendy at 9:44 PM on March 15, 2018
This year's happiest place on Earth is Finland
saying something about 2018 are we
posted by iffthen at 3:26 AM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
saying something about 2018 are we
posted by iffthen at 3:26 AM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
This has been getting posted all over my Facebook feed, and nobody is commenting on the fact that Finland is 98% white and also pretty xenophobic. And that, according to the ranking criteria, the top 10 countries are predominantly white and the bottom 10 are predominantly Black. The takeaway, for me, is that the world is a really racist place where wealth is hoarded by white people and the institutional criteria for "happiness" involve mostly wealth and whiteness.
In short, there is nothing to celebrate here.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:22 AM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
In short, there is nothing to celebrate here.
posted by grumpybear69 at 8:22 AM on March 16, 2018 [1 favorite]
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posted by Wordshore at 9:22 AM on March 15, 2018 [1 favorite]