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Comment on If you went to an island, and formed a new country and forcibly inject everyone there with a drug that makes them happy, you new country could surpass Finland as the "Happiest country in the world"

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RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago

They didn’t really ask us about our happiness, but rather just analyzed a bunch of facts

Incorrect. World Happiness Report uses a poll question (conducted by Gallup) as the sole basis for the ranking.

The other stuff isn’t used for making the ranking but rather:

The six metrics are used to explain the estimated extent to which each of these factors contribute to increasing life satisfaction when compared to the hypothetical nation of Dystopia, but they themselves do not have an effect on the total score reported for each country.

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Tuuktuuk@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
Okay, thanks for the correction. Then it’s a bit funny the result has ended up the way it is.

Probably the reason is then that we are taught not to complain about what we get. If you are asked whether you are happy with how things are not, you are supposed to assume that things are already done as well as reasonably possible and, therefore, as well as they can reasonably be. Therefore, you are happy with things. Of course, you might be exceptionally depressed, but you will still be happy about your how your country is run, because you know it’s, by defintion, run as well as it can be.

But, maybe I’m still wrong. I now tried finding that one question in their report, but couldn’t find it in a reasonable time. What has the question been?

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- RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
  This is from the FAQ:
  
  How is your ranking calculated?
  
  Our happiness ranking is based on a single life evaluation question called the Cantril Ladder:
  
  Please imagine a ladder with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top.
  
  The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you.
  
  On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?
  
  This question is both democratic and universal. Rather than constructing an index from multiple metrics, the Cantril Ladder empowers people to make their own judgements about what matters most, regardless of their culture and background.
  
  The question does not mention concepts like happiness, wellbeing, or satisfaction, so it can be easily translated and understood in many different languages.
  
  So the question is mostly about contentment with life. I think rather than some hushing culture or putting up appearances, the answer why we rank so well is both that we live in a pretty good country comparatively and we are content with fairly little.
  
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  - Tuuktuuk@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    A depressed Finn would probably say that “this is the best possible life for me under these circumstances I live within.”
    
    Or, I could phrase the thought this way: “Things are shit, but no can do, so this is the best possible situation currently available for me.”
    
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    RaivoKulli@sopuli.xyz ⁨2⁩ ⁨days⁩ ago
    I’d say a depressed person would think that life could be better and that they’re not high up on the ladder, even though they don’t feel like they can get up to the higher rungs.
    
    In either case I would say that’s the same for depressed people elsewhere too, so it wouldn’t affect the ranking.
    
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