
World Happiness Report 2015 [pdf] - amelius
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/article24073928.ece/BINARY/World+Happiness+Report.pdf
======
mjevans
I believe my own happiness would lessen from reading all of the text,
particularly as the charts don't seem to have statistics on what I wanted to
know.

This report does not seem to quantify the happiness among different groups of
populations within regions of countries surveyed. For example, among different
members of different economic stratifications, ethnicities, religions, sexual
orientations, political groupings in different regional types (cities,
suburbs, rural) within the surveyed countries. That data would allow for
better questions to be asked about what effects policies and demographics have
in different areas.

~~~
garrettgrimsley
>This report does not seem to quantify the happiness among different groups of
populations within regions of countries surveyed.

From their FAQ [0]:

Q: Is this sample size really big enough to calculate rankings?

A: A sample size of 2,000 to 3,000 is large enough to give a fairly good
estimate at the national level. It is not large enough to give precision for
sub-populations, which is why in Chapter 3 we use data from all available
surveys, from 2005 through 2014, to provide samples of sufficient size for our
splits by age and gender.

As for manipulating the data yourself:

Q: Can I download any of the data used in the Report?

A: The online data appendices show how the data are constructed, and include
the main national and regional averages underlying the figures and tables in
Chapter 2 and 3. Those wishing access to more detailed data from the Gallup
World Poll should contact Gallup directly:

Joy Murphy

Joy_Murphy@gallup.com

+1-202-715-3131

And the data appendix that they reference [1].

[0] [http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015...](http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/Ch2FAQ_final.pdf)

[1] [http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015...](http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/StatisticalAppendixWHR3-April-16-2015.pdf)

------
s3nnyy
Switzerland is happiest country once again!

If you look for a tech-job in Zurich, check out my story "8 reasons why I
moved to Switzerland to work in IT" on
[https://medium.com/@iwaninzurich/eight-reasons-why-i-
moved-t...](https://medium.com/@iwaninzurich/eight-reasons-why-i-moved-to-
switzerland-to-work-in-it-c7ac18af4f90) or send me a mail to the address in my
HN-profile.

~~~
sciguy77
I just read (and enjoyed) your article. I loved Zurich when I visited, but I
don't speak the language. Are there opportunities there for coders who only
speak English?

~~~
myle
Yes. A big part of the better ones. (Google, IBM, Microsoft, startups,
universities)

------
tim333
One thing I like about the "World Happiness Report" type of thinking is it
gives a potential better way to run countries where an engineering approach is
used to optimise human well being (or something like that. 'How is life out of
10?' is a reasonable proxy perhaps) as opposed to the traditional set up of a
right wing party and left wing party shouting 'they suck, vote for us' which
probably leads to suboptimal outcomes.

------
mitchtbaum
First sentence:

 _The world has come a long way since..._

Would you say this use of the term `world` here fits a classical linear logic
(Newtonian exclusive logic) guided English register, while a report that
speaks from multiple cultures' points of view and has multiple interpretations
would build on a modal logic (para/transconsistent, inclusive logic) guided
language register[0]? If so, how might you translate or rewrite this report in
other languages or other English registers, and how would you review its
philosophical interpretation of "the human experience"?

0:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possible_world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possible_world)

~~~
tim333
> how might you translate or rewrite this report in other languages or other
> English registers ...

I think most languages have the concept of the world and it changing? I think
you might be over thinking things...

~~~
mitchtbaum
What do you mean when you say 'the concept of the world'? (honestly asking)

Edit: Downvoting this question? Hmm.. I'll clarify why I asked. Wikipedia:
"The concept of possible _worlds_ is common in contemporary philosophical
discourse but has been disputed." (Emphasis mine) It seems dialogue to clarify
this concept would have worthwhile meaning for philosophy..

~~~
tim333
The place we live, planet earth?

~~~
mitchtbaum
> The place we live, planet earth?

I see each of us, and in turn our communities, living in _parts_ of planet
Earth, and to my underlying point, having, similar to our dictionary
meanings[0,1], varied and overlapping views. Some of these terms' meanings
have a narrow view and another a wide one, for instance: 1) "A particular
group of living things", then "All that relates to a particular sphere of
activity", and 2) "Human and social interaction", then "A particular region or
group of countries", and 3) "The Earth", then "The Universe", and 4) "Human
collective existence", then "Existence in general.". Take for example a
derived term, 'worldview'. Would this necessarily have something to do with
Earth? Would it better fit "An individual or group perspective or social
setting" and "Age, era"?

Etymologically, `world` comes from Proto-Germanic _weraz_ +‎ _aldiz_ (man,
husband + age, generation, lifetime), and before that Proto-Indo-European
_wiHrós_ \+ _h₂el_. These terms meant to our linguistic ancestors, "hunt,
warrior, hero" \+ “to raise, feed, nourish”. We would still have `Earth`,
`Universe`, `place`, etc to use if we focused `world` on a concept more to do
with something emerging from experience, as it seems to in logic (a subset of
logic that, imho, has well-founded roots). I believe logically it benefits a
mind to make this conceptual leap so as to capably see multiple points of view
and to recognize limits and strengths in any particular one or group within a
whole.

Paradoxically, the many are the one, so to speak, or whole is its parts (ping
Da Vinci). Some minds break on this point, some bend around it. Every report I
have ever seen comes from some point of view.

0:
[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/world](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/world)

1:
[http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/world](http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/world)

~~~
garrettgrimsley
Since you seem to want to continue this unproductive line of commenting: Here,
you can enjoy the report in French [0], German [1], Italian [2], Portuguese
[3], and Spanish [4].

>I see each of us, and in turn our communities, living in parts of planet
Earth

Lucky for us the researchers organized their data by geographic bounds and we
don't have to guess how they see it. "World" means "aggregate data from all
respondents regardless of geographic location." How incredibly
straightforward!

Now, would you say that @mitchbaum _often_ asks questions that do not
contribute to the discussion [6] (modal logic, para/transconsistent, inclusive
logic), or that @mitchbaum asks questions that do not contribute to the
discussion [7] (Newtonian exclusive logic) [5]?

[0] [http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015...](http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/WHR-2015-summary_final-FR.pdf)

[1] [http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015...](http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/WHR-2015-summary_final-DE.pdf)

[2] [http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015...](http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/WHR-2015-summary_final-IT.pdf)

[3] [http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015...](http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/WHR-2015-summary_final-PT.pdf)

[4] [http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015...](http://worldhappiness.report/wp-
content/uploads/sites/2/2015/04/WHR-2015-summary_final-ES.pdf)

[5]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possible_world](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Possible_world)

[6]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10796341](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10796341)

[7]
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10796257](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10796257)

~~~
mitchtbaum
These 6 translations, on the same domain, come from the same language family,
meaning their (likely) direct translations would naturally come from and with
the same philosophy. We have over [6,000 languages on Earth](0) from which to
describe and hear about human experience, happiness included. If you believe
that one research team with one set of experiences can explain humanity, then
I understand why you would feel uncomfortable with me taking issue with this
limited worldview. If you can imagine 1000x more cultural values describing
their own points of view, then you would have some idea what a report like
this misses and potentially creates[1].

0: [http://www.languageconservancy.org/understanding-the-
issue/w...](http://www.languageconservancy.org/understanding-the-issue/what-
is-language-loss/)

1: [https://vimeo.com/30794385](https://vimeo.com/30794385) [TED Talk: Wade
Davis on Endangered Cultures]

~~~
garrettgrimsley
When you ask a question the way you ask the question influences the answers
you receive, and the way you have asked _your_ questions makes crafting
responses to you feel like pulling teeth. Had you instead focused on the
concept of happiness which may become muddled when communicated to the
respondents perhaps you would have encountered a productive reply. You did
not, and so I did not add anything to the discussion. I understand quite well
what you are suggesting, and it can be discussed without invoking possible
worlds or nitpicking over the definition of "world." You did not do so, and so
you will have to find someone else to entertain you. Goodnight, or day, I
suppose it depends on your point of view.

