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nomadder

Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 709 Location: Somewherebetweenhereandthere
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:02 pm Post subject: Happiest Countries |
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The 25 most contented societies according to a recent survey of 82 are:
1. Puerto Rico
2. Mexico
3. Denmark
4. Ireland
5. Iceland
6. Switzerland
7. Northern Ireland
8. Colombia
9. Netherlands
10. Canada
11. Austria
12. El Salvador
13. Venezuela
14. Luxembourg
15. United States
16. Australia
17. New Zealand
18. Sweden
19. Nigeria
20. Norway
21. Belgium
22. Finland
23. Saudi Arabia
24. Singapore
25. Britain |
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Glenski

Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:36 pm Post subject: |
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based on what?
who did the survey?
where can we see more of the results/data? |
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ls650

Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 2:46 pm Post subject: Re: Happiest Countries |
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nomadder wrote: |
The 25 most contented societies according to a recent survey of 82 are: |
How the heck do you measure something as subjective as that..? |
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moonraven
Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 2:55 pm Post subject: |
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I would like to see the link, too, as we have had this on Dave's before and what the OP posted is completely different from the last survey links that I posted a couple of months ago which had Nigeria, Mexico and Venezuela in late 2003 and Venezuela, Nigeria and I think it was Ireland in late 2004! |
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VanIslander

Joined: 21 Mar 2005 Posts: 67 Location: temp banned from dave's korean boards
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Posted: Tue Aug 02, 2005 4:03 pm Post subject: Re: Happiest Countries |
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nomadder wrote: |
The 25 most contented societies according to a recent survey of 82 are:
1. Puerto Rico
2. Mexico |
Huh?
Then why are so many from these places trying to get out of their countries and into the U.S.? That's not a symptom of contentment.
Quote: |
7. Northern Ireland
8. Colombia |
There's something really wonky with that definition of "contentment" if it applies particularly to countries with long and recent histories of ongoing violence and widespread expressions of concern. |
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Chris_Crossley

Joined: 26 Jun 2004 Posts: 1797 Location: Still in the centre of Furnace City, PRC, after eight years!!!
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:26 am Post subject: Re: Happiest Countries |
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nomadder wrote: |
The 25 most contented societies according to a recent survey of 82 |
There are more than 200 countries in this world, so the survey contained less than half the total. That is not a good sample in my book.
Furthermore, what are the criteria for "contentment"? |
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2 over lee

Joined: 07 Sep 2004 Posts: 1125 Location: www.specialbrewman.blogspot.com
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 4:48 am Post subject: |
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My two cents> Australia, Argentina, Laos and yes Colombia. |
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dmb

Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 5:29 am Post subject: |
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How do you measure contentment? I guess if you were in Liverpool the day after the champions league final. Liverpool would be the happiest city in the world. |
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moonraven
Joined: 24 Mar 2004 Posts: 3094
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nomadder

Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 709 Location: Somewherebetweenhereandthere
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 12:45 pm Post subject: |
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The survey was used in a magazine article(no links) but after some research for the sceptics in the audience I found a similar online article.
See:
www.virtualboricua.org/Docs/os18.htm |
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web fishing
Joined: 02 Jun 2005 Posts: 95
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Posted: Wed Aug 03, 2005 1:26 pm Post subject: |
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nomadder's link
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close-knit families and endless celebrations |
That would make me very happy. |
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Glenski

Joined: 15 Jan 2003 Posts: 12844 Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2005 8:44 am Post subject: |
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From the nomadder link:
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...among the 82 societies in the study by the Stockholm, Sweden-based World Values Survey, which was based on interviews with 120,000 people representing 85 percent of the global population. That put the United States ahead of Britain, Germany and France, Japan, China and Russia, but behind Mexico, Colombia and Venezuela, Ireland, the Netherlands and Canada.
The subjective well-being rankings are one part of the largest social-science study ever. The World Values Survey, an ongoing investigation by a global network of social scientists, measures social, cultural and political change on all six populated continents. |
I still want to see the questions. World Values Survey indeed. I would especially like to see how many people from each country were surveyed in order to get that "85% of the global population".
200 countries, someone said. 85% of that is 170.
120,000 people surveyed.
120,000 / 170 = 706 people per country that should have been surveyed if the WVS questioned an equal number per country. Doubtful that they did. Would YOU believe the numbers from 706 people in YOUR country giving an accurate assessment of your country? Not me.
I'd also like to know what were the descriptions of those people (age, time spent abroad, economic status, educational background, etc.). |
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nomadder

Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 709 Location: Somewherebetweenhereandthere
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Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2005 2:48 pm Post subject: & on that note |
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According to a Maclean's magazine article the keys to happiness are: "volunteering, spending time with friends(esp. those of the opposite sex), being physically active and keeping a diary. These things are more likely to bring about a felicitous state than education, youth , beauty or money on their own. Marriage and children, incidentally are a roller-coaster ride, temporarily boosting mood only to deflate it as the stresses of family life accumulate."
Another interesting quote: "...happy people live longer, but it's the grumps among us who are doing their bit to perfect the species-if it weren't for the unhappy, one influential evolutionary theory suggests, Homo sapiens could have gone the way of the dodo." |
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valley_girl

Joined: 22 Sep 2004 Posts: 272 Location: Somewhere in Canada
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 12:57 am Post subject: Re: & on that note |
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nomadder wrote: |
According to a Maclean's magazine article the keys to happiness are: "volunteering, spending time with friends(esp. those of the opposite sex), being physically active and keeping a diary. |
I see a common denominator here...FREE TIME. I think that's what it comes down to in the end. No rat race. Time to do things like volunteer, hang with friends, work out, and write in a diary every day. Yep, sounds like a nice life indeed.  |
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Justin Trullinger

Joined: 28 Jan 2005 Posts: 3110 Location: Seoul, South Korea and Myanmar for a bit
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Posted: Sat Aug 06, 2005 11:34 pm Post subject: |
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Quote: |
nomadder wrote:
The 25 most contented societies according to a recent survey of 82 are:
1. Puerto Rico
2. Mexico
Huh?
Then why are so many from these places trying to get out of their countries and into the U.S.? That's not a symptom of contentment.
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Erm, Puerto Rico is still, last I knew, a US territory. I'm not opening debate about whether or not it should be, but...
Justin |
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