alt Hacker NewsThere are no material conditions that would convince me to live in a cold, dark and culturally introverted place. Anecdotally, my tropical peers agree with this opinion. Seasonal affective disorder plays an outsized role in my ability to like a place. On the flip side, I've heard many people describe living in warm & humid weather as torture.
My point is, aggregating factors for happiness to find the best country is like aggregating people's favorite colors to find the best color. Each individual's needs and circumstances are unique, and what will make them happy will vary widely as those needs and circumstances vary.
Some interesting (suspect?) findings from the quoted 2023 paper: (2008 - 2017 data)
* Somaliland had the 4th least worries
* Russians were the 7th least angry
* Chinese were the 8th best rested
* Icelanders did great on every metric, but felt very tired (rank 190)
* Venezuelans smiled the 12th most (Panama, Paraguay, Costa Rica did even better)
* Laotians smile the 3rd most, but are also among the angriest (202) !!?
Replies
> Laotians smile the 3rd most, but are also among the angriest
From "Be Careful Where You Smile: Culture Shapes Judgments of Intelligence and Honesty of Smiling Individuals"
Although numerous studies confirm that positive perceptions of smiling
individuals seem to be universal, anecdotal evidence suggests that in some
cultures the opposite may be true. For example, a well-known Russian proverb
says ‘Улыбкa, бeз пpичины - пpизнaк дypaчины’ (smiling with no reason is a
sign of stupidity). The Norwegian government humorously explains nuances of
Norwegian culture by indicating that when a stranger on the street smiles at
Norwegians, they may assume that the stranger is insane
I grew up in a very warm place, then moved to a very cold place and was miserable. I’d never done a winter and every year I was deeply unhappy for huge spans of the year.
But then I moved to Denmark from that cold place and found myself very happy! Of course circumstances change and a single account means little but I definitely believe some societies lend themselves to greater happiness than others, even in the very developed world.