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Why are Danes the Happiest People in the World?
Does the Second Noble Truth dispute that?[cite] Allandnone:[/cite]We also have joy in our lives, not all suffering.
Is that not spoken to in the 3rd/4th Noble Truths? (Although, may I say... Non-attachment? Where's the fun in that?[cite] Allandnone:[/cite]if we do not attach to these pleasures could we not be free from this suffering?
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Comments
Perhaps this research offers some hard evidence supporting
Buddha's Noble Truths.First, can we agree that having expectations is a form of desire? This study on the happiness of Danes supports the Buddhist point of view in two ways:
1) Seeing that 'life is suffering' from the get-go lowers one's expectations of life's rewards. (i.e., The First Noble Truth is the existence of suffering… ) The study attributed the Dane's greater degree of happiness to lower their expectations.
2) Seeing that ‘desire is the cause of suffering’ points the finger at us. We are the cause of our problem, not something ‘out there’. This results in less playing the blame game and passing of the buck which, I contend, only fans the flames of our expectations and frustrations. (i.e., The Second Noble Truth is the cause of suffering. The cause of suffering is lust...)
Naturally, besides the lower expectations, the decent living standards in Denmark plays a significant role in Danish happiness. Both factors appear essential.
Why Danes are smug: A comparative study of life satisfaction in the European Union
Introduction
Danes are unrivalled in satisfaction with life. The University of Leicester recently published the World Map of Happiness with Denmark as number one. For more than 30 years this country with five million inhabitants has ranked first in Eurobarometer surveys (http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/index_en.htm). More than two thirds of Danes are "very satisfied" with their lives according to these surveys. In no other Eurobarometer country has this proportion exceeded a half, and for most of the countries the proportion is less than a third. To explain Danish contentment we sifted through literature, statistics, and common knowledge.
(One of the researcher’s most plausible hypotheses for Danish happiness had to do with their expectations.)
Expectations—The Eurobarometer surveys also contain a question about expectations for improvement in the coming year. It has been argued that great expectations of favorable life circumstances in the future should be associated with life satisfaction, but if the expectations are unrealistically high they could also be the basis of disappointment and low life satisfaction. The Eurobarometer data on expectations go back to 1980 and show that while Danes are very satisfied, their expectations for the coming year are rather low, ranking among the bottom half. In contrast, Italy and Greece, which rank lowest on life satisfaction, rank high on expectations for the year to come; together with Swedes and Finns they rank at the top.
(The following are also interesting:)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5224306.stm
http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/oct2006/gb20061011_072596.htm
http://www.physorg.com/news73321785.html
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn9642.html
As far as eating fish goes, there are a number of folks around the planet who eat just as much (or more) fish as the Danes but don’t equal them in contentment. On the other hand, I suppose Jesus recommended eating fish, eh? Or did the Catholics start that?
Actually, I did see that 60 minutes but I was doing the dinner dishes during that segment. But I saw another study about 2 years ago that said that Mexicans are the happiest people in the world followed by Puerto Ricans. Go figure! "Happiness" is a pretty subjective thing.
I could be wrong and I frequently am, so I've learned to back down, especially if I'm not willing to do the research! Anyway, I was raised Catholic and had to eat fish every Friday and I wasn't happy about that!
:roll:
The later would probably agree that the unintended consequence of increasing expectations is disappointment (sorrow), correct?
If so, then trouble lies ahead for children raised in cultures trumpeting 'the pursuit of happiness' as a good thing, and that anyone can have or do anything they desire through applied free will.
Conversely, a culture where expectations are downplayed will find more contentment in how things are moment to moment. 'The pursuit of happiness' and [chref=33]contentment[/chref] are at odd with each other logically speaking. One says 'stir and go' while the other says '[chref=16]hold firmly to stillness. [/chref] and stay'.
I imagine, however, that increasing wealth probably revs up the ‘go and get’ side of a culture, and erodes the ‘be still and stay’ side of a culture. As Jesus said, “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” And for me, the kingdom of God is contentment here on earth.
They should have preceded the Friday fish with a few days of out and out fasting. I’ll bet the fish would have been a real treat then! Now where is my 'yum yum' emoticon when I need it.
Here the reverse seems to be happening. My countrymen like to whine about their misery, as if competing to be sadder. I think the draw here is to hope that your opponent accidentally wins, so that he is more miserable than you and therefore you are more well off.
I think it's the schooling. I would not be stressed by education growing up in a country like Denmark. Not only is the American system competitive, all those high school shootings are even more terrifying.
Japan's even more ahead: the students don't even bother to shoot people, they just kill themselves. Asian culture (probably Confucius again) breeds this warped idea that your grades are a personal responisibility to your family and society.
TO DENMARK! LOL
I see America as always looking to the outside of themselves for everything: self-validation, self-esteem, happiness, contentment...whatever they can get for the money. America is addicted to more. Introverted, introspective people are seen as being shy or weak or fearful.
Having grown up in New York and living in Northern Ca for most of my adult life, I'd say Californians are more addicted to happiness. New Yorkers know how to suffer, they expect to suffer, and they do it with equanimity!
Might it be partially the affect of religion on a nation's consciousness that creates these differences? The Bible says we have dominion over the animals and the earth, we are the superior beings, made in God's image and so we can do anything we please. It's a perfect ground for capitalism, consumerism, our grasping for more. So different from Buddhism where you are taught look inward and let go of desires and fears in order to gain contentment.
(PS) Speaking of Singapore: Many happy months I spent there in the 60's. It was my home base for a time. Cosmopolitan yet a bit funky, orderly yet a bit chaotic. Alas, it sounds like order has overtaken things. Oh how that pendulum swings.
I found people the world over pretty much the same, whether they were Buddhist in Asia, Muslims in Middle East or Christians in Europe, etc. I've noticed an interesting disconnect between how people actually are, and how they think they actually are (self image?). Humans share a common biology with all life on earth which is the driving force behind 'capitalism' and 'grasping'. Culture and circumstance can either aggravate or mitigate this. The Danish and Bhutanese culture currently appear to mitigate against extremes. Even so, I see the [chref=56]sameness[/chref] we share greatly outweighs the difference. It is just that difference is easier to notice… and perhaps more fun!
I love the recent post from NowSeeker where she says she has become biased towards seeing sameness. Perhaps my pendulum could swing a little more drastically in that direction. I found her posting inspirational but still I haven't done anything about it.
It's so easy to just fall asleep and let my discursive thoughts lead me around by the nose...sigh.
The 'problem' to me is that Christianity presents itself as a masculine doctrine, much like Islam, to describe the fatherly, order-establishing aspect of the IdoknowwhatitiscalledsoIcallitTAO. You must listen to God because God dominates you, He is always more powerful than you. And I realised that perhaps it was not really a 'problem'. We have been living in male-dominated societies for the last couple of thousand years and the founders of religion probably wanted to get their message through a top-down approach, i.e. men (also the ones who needed it the most, since men are always involved in silly wars and tribal conflicts) Women, on the other hand, already masters of "To yield is to be preserved whole", were not the obvious or main targets of religious speakers (social stabilisers and resource allocators).
The Tao Te Ching on the other hand, reveals the paradoxical nature of the divine force, in that it can be seen to have both a masculine aspect (as a fatherly force that is big and envelopes all things) and a feminine aspect (as a maternal force that sustains the 10,000 creatures and is small and lowly in nature.) Know yang and and keep to yin. The Tao is not He or She, rather an IT.
We all have a little Hitler and a little Buddha within. Which gets expressed when, and to what degree? The easy answer has always been that it’s a matter of ‘free choice’. That way we can judge people as responsible for what they do and deal with them. Looking deeper it is plain to see that free will is an illusion linked to the illusion of self. So what causes a Buddha to be Buddha or a Hitler to be a Hitler?
Genetic traits we inherit combined with the circumstances of our childhood (e.g., the degree of intimacy with which we were raised), the paradigm within which we are ‘programmed’ (e.g., Spartan, Quaker), All these combine with the situational [chref=51]circumstances[/chref] of each moment to drive us to do what we do. Good golly Miss Molly no wonder we opt for the illusion of ‘free will’ as the cause.
So, we are different only in the sense that each grain of sand on the beach is different due to an endless trail of causes and effects that brought it to be what it is at that moment. We are the same in the sense that we are like grains of sand on the beach. Good golly Miss Molly, no wonder we opt for the illusion of ‘self’ as the effect, rather than remaining like some grain of sand on a beach.
You… we… are too hard on ourselves I reckon. When we measure ourselves against an ideal our mind conjures up we are destined to always come up lacking. It is not that we are lacking, it is that we are using a faulty measuring rod with which to beat ourselves. Of course, it is hard to drop that rod for we also use it to praise ourselves and others.
The currents of human existence, perceptions and actions, flow from the watershed of instinctive biology. Like a white water rafting trip, we can enjoy the journey more if we don’t take these currents too seriously.
This might be a tangent to this discussion, but it's meandering (in a good way) anyhow.
Do you think that if one had enough awareness to realize that there is no free will and that there is no self, but just an illusion of a self, that that person could be a Hitler? If Hitler had that awareness and all his personal neuroses became transparent to him, would he still have been driven to do what he did?
I think we've had this discussion before. In Taoism, is there morality? I can't get it through my thick skull that goodness and kindness don't matter. I understand that being or trying to be good and kind is in my own best interest, but aside from that, doesn't goodness have some intrinsic worth?
Perhaps, if we could put aside our narrow view and see the immensity of it all, we could see Hitler and 6 million Jews as just some more grains of sand.
http://www.centertao.org/viewtopic.php?t=319
and
http://www.centertao.org/viewtopic.php?t=312
These 2 quotes from Carl answer my question about an awakened Hitler:
This site is a resource, indeed!
It is hard to see how. I imagine that neuroses result from the conflict between what we think and what is so (our ideals versus [chref=25] that which is naturally so[/chref]). That dissipates with the realization of ‘That Thou Art’, as the old Vedic saying puts it (Tat Tvam Asi).
This is a great example of how the ‘virtues’ we cherish are a reflection of ‘self interest’. We empathize with the murdered Jews and recoil at that slaughter, yet have no problem wiping out millions of mosquitoes, cows, chickens, rats, fish. Heck, even plants count among the living things that 'need' to survive.
How can one draw a moral line without becoming a hypocrite? Moreover, aren't hypocrites are blind to their own hypocrisy? Otherwise how could they maintain their 'self interest' double standards? The deep currents of self interest emotion rule the mind's waves.
I guess if I were a mosquito, cow, chicken, rat or fish I would be just as horrified. I notice that when the goats hooves are trimmed and the goats cry like they are being killed, the llamas are right there, pacing, very agitated, looking on intently. They are different species but in one herd. They feel the same way as humans do for each other. Must be natural just as survival instinct is natural.
I've found it's helpful not to set something up as the enemy...like ego, self-centeredness. being unconscious and reactive, or being a hypocrite. Fighting something doesn't help (I'm not saying you are fighting.) What helps me is to see these kinds of things are the human condition, a common foible (love that word), more a curiosity than an enemy. For some reason, doing that makes it easier to see through it all.
The difficulty is if i want to help a person at a given point in time, how do i go about doing it that would be best for the person? If i think: this person needs emotional help, so i should give him a pat on the back, then there is some long learnt knowledge acting in our mind that emotional help equals a pat on the back. The greatest ability and flaw of the human mind is to build associations between different actions, emotions and objects that may become irrelevant in different time and space. Hence the way that can be followed is not the constant way.
Hitler suffered from this problem. It is perfectly understandable and acceptable that Hitler got angry. If I were a regular German male, looking at the sorry state of Germany afte WW1 and the unfairness of the peace treaty, I would be angry. Hitler's downfall was caused by a flawed association: I am angry, and it's all the fault of the Jews and so i must go kill them. Why not the fault of the Chinese, or Japanese, or Africans, or women?
During my time as a college student in the US, I was surprised how at a popular level WW2 was condensed into the holocaust and the death of Jews. What about all the soldiers who died on both sides? The civilians of Germany and Japan who suffered towards the end of the war? WW2 was also an important factor in reducing the power of Europe, increasing the power of the US, and a first step in better rights for black people (whom served as soldiers) and better rights for women (employed in war factories)
I don't know if it has been mentioned on the site, but personally I am practising and advocating birth control. If you want to raise a child, perhaps consider raising an orphan. It seems to me that human population is exploding out of control and is out of sync with living in harmony with our environment. Due to our ingenuity we have climbed to the top of the food chain, so our population does not get checked by lions, tigers and snakes anymore. That means we have to consciously slow down our own reproduction rate, or let war thin down our numbers for us.
[quote][cite] riverwolf:[/cite]Oh, goodness and kindness definitely help. I have been so pigheaded with my life I did not deserve to live this long had it not been for the various kindness and goodwill of people I have met. [/quote]
It is good to know at least the site isn’t making things worse. I sometimes wonder. Anyway, I do wish you well; let me know if I can help.
[quote]The difficulty is if i want to help a person at a given point in time, how do i go about doing it that would be best for the person? If i think: this person needs emotional help, so i should give him a pat on the back, then there is some long learnt knowledge acting in our mind that emotional help equals a pat on the back. [/quote]
Much of this ‘automatic’ kind of behavior may be a result of the loss of social intimacy we incurred as we went from small scale stone age tribal life to civilization. We are all strangers relative to that experience. Even county villagers are like strangers compared to the ‘long house’ Dyak people of Borneo for example.
Now this is not to say primitive stone age tribal people weren’t also nuts. Ever since an awareness of language overtook consciousness we’ve been a bit disconnected from [chref=25]that which is naturally so [/chref].
As you'd expect in true Taoist fashion, our greatest ability and our deepest flaw [chref=2]complement each other[/chref]. So, dose this mean that, as you put it, "the way that can be followed is not the constant way"? That has a nice ring to it, but I wonder? Chapter one seems to focus especially on the downfall of language, i.e.,
[i][list]'way can say (talk, speak; think) not ordinary (common, normal, constant;) way' (é“å¯é“,éžå¸¸é“)
'name can name (describe, express, note) not ordinary (common, normal, constant;) way' åå¯å,éžå¸¸å) [/list][/i]
[quote]Hitler suffered from this problem. It is perfectly understandable and acceptable that Hitler got angry. If I were a regular German male, looking at the sorry state of Germany afte WW1 and the unfairness of the peace treaty, I would be angry. Hitler's downfall was caused by a flawed association: I am angry, and it's all the fault of the Jews and so i must go kill them. Why not the fault of the Chinese, or Japanese, or Africans, or women?[/quote]
Also, consider the time-line of an individual borne with Hitler’s geom. (a clone), but raised in a Neolithic tribal circumstances. Circumstances can aggravate insane tendencies and circumstances determine what harm an unstable personality can inflict upon nature. The less sophisticated our tool were, the less harm we inflicted upon our environment; so when monkeys get machine guns watch out.
[quote]During my time as a college student in the US, I was surprised how at a popular level WW2 was condensed into the holocaust and the death of Jews. What about all the soldiers who died on both sides? The civilians of Germany and Japan who suffered towards the end of the war? WW2 was also an important factor in reducing the power of Europe, increasing the power of the US, and a first step in better rights for black people (whom served as soldiers) and better rights for women (employed in war factories)[/quote]
One thing that makes the holocaust stand out is the cold efficient methodology of that genocide. Like a meticulously planned murder compared to a passion driven spur-of-the-moment murder. One captures our imagination as more grotesque than the other.
During my years living abroad, I also found each culture in I which lived to be blinded by its own paradigm… without exception. Yet, each culture is certain of the veracity of its paradigm. It was then I realized we are not as sapient a species as we [chref=71]think[/chref] we are. And as the years go by I’m taken aback by an increasing awareness of my own and other’s ignorance. Perhaps someday I’ll get used to it. I guess I’m continually surprised because I still emotionally expect to see ourselves more in line with who we think we are. It is weird really.
[quote]I don't know if it has been mentioned on the site, but personally I am practicing and advocating birth control. If you want to raise a child, perhaps consider raising an orphan. It seems to me that human population is exploding out of control and is out of sync with living in harmony with our environment. Due to our ingenuity we have climbed to the top of the food chain, so our population does not get checked by lions, tigers and snakes anymore. That means we have to consciously slow down our own reproduction rate, or let war thin down our numbers for us.[/quote]
[chref=48]In the pursuit of the way, one does less every day[/chref] comes to mind. Being much more clever that wise I fail to see how anything we do, or cease doing, will change things in the long term. History is ripe with humanity’s attempts to “live in harmony” as you put it. Yet each solution spawns another problem. Isn’t this always the case when we [chref=16]willfully innovate while ignorant of the constant[/chref]. Yet, each generation comes along with renewed hope of saving the day, yet ends up [chref=57]being as meddlesome[/chref] as the previous generation. And, to top it all off, each lacks the perspective to contemporaneously realize that ‘history is repeating itself’.
The young are born clever and eager to innovate. Only through the experience of stumbling through life do we acquire some ability [chref=55]to know the constant[/chref] (wisdom)… then we die. The ongoing myth is that we can education the young and pass on the wisdom the old acquire, However, any straightforward review of human history shows that a false hope. We only truly know that which we experience; all the [chref=81]wide learning[/chref] in the world notwithstanding.
Conditions are improving. We haven’t nuked Iran for example. But, I’m thinking that is probably because the nation is composed of a population whose average age is 35 plus now. There is more wisdom across the population than there was in Roman times when the average age was 15 or so. Teenagers you know. Still, Hitler did his thing in modern times so I’m not sure how great the effects of average age are yet. When the human population’s average age tops 100 perhaps we will see some measurable difference. Hey, am I hopeful or what?