[Istanbuller]

Regionally, Latin America has the greatest proportion of people (32 percent) saying they are ‘very happy’, followed by North America with 27 percent and then followed by Asia-Pacific and the Middle East and Africa with 24 percent each.




It is noted that 22 percent of the global population reported being ‘very happy’ now in comparison with 20 percent in 2007. It was also seen that the highest range of world happiness was between March and April 2010 when the number was at its highest point of 26 percent. Clearly there are numerous events and happenings that cause happiness to go up and down.




Comparing 2007 to 2011, in the “very happy” group, it was noted that the greatest improvements are found in Turkey which is up by 16 points since 2007, followed by Mexico which is up by 10 points, Australia which is up by 7 points, Japan which is up 6 by points and India and Canada each up by 5 points.




Also, of the 24 countries measured, less than half (9 countries) have experienced increases in happiness intensity compared with 13 that dropped and 2 countries with no change. The countries that indicated the greatest drop in happiness intensity were Brazil (down by 9 points) followed by Indonesia (down by 7 points), Russia (down by 6 points) and South Africa (down by 5 points). The United States, South Korea, Saudi Arabia, Poland and France showed a drop by 1 point each.




The survey was conducted on 18,687 adults twice annually until March 2010 and then the survey became monthly. The countries include Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America.

Source: http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/In ... allnews%29

I can't understand how they measure happiness.

[Smertios]

I can't understand how they measure happiness.

You ask people "Are you happy?" and compare the proportion of people declaring themselves to be happy in each country. That specific survey probably had a question more similar to this "How happy are you?", since they were stating the proportion of people answering "very happy"...

[Soulflytribe]

The countries that indicated the greatest drop in happiness intensity were Brazil (down by 9 points)

In other words: people are becoming more educated, traveling more abroad and understanding the huge flaws inside this socialist and corrupt regime.

[Smertios]

In other words: people are becoming more educated, traveling more abroad and understanding the huge flaws inside this socialist and corrupt regime.

Hmm, weren't you the one who argued that education had nothing to do with that?

[Soulflytribe]

Hmm, weren't you the one who argued that education had nothing to do with that?

Pardon me?

I don't see investing in education as a sine qua non condition for economic growth. Countries like Spain, Portugal and even some eastern countries are all alive proofs of what I am saying. Good education is an insume, exactly like oil. It won't make a country developed alone. An ukrainian engineer working as a street sweeper in Lisbon could explain this for us. A poor peasant living inside oil-rich Angola or Venezuela could do it as well. You need other things like a good environment for business, a good justice system and even a good police to arrest the ones asking for bribes to company owners for the "allowance" of the existence of the company itself in a determined area of the town.

But it's obvious that the more educated people are, the better they will tend to vote. Of course that I'm considering a situation where people won't be brainwashed at University to become marxists. What, unfortunately, happens a lot in Brazil...

[Smertios]

But it's obvious that the more educated people are, the better they will tend to vote.

Yes, that is my point. If you check the statistics from the 2010 elections in universities, you will see that, in the first round, students were supporting Marina Silva, professors were supporting mostly José Serra, and employees/servants were supporting Dilma Rousseff. In the second round, most students were supporting Serra, as well.

Of course that I'm considering a situation where people won't be brainwashed at University to become marxists. What, unfortunately, happens a lot in Brazil...

That varies a lot from unit to unit. Schools of humanities normally have quite a share of marxists, except for law schools. Medical schools and engineering schools normally have people aligned with the right, for some reason...

[Igor Antunov]

Most useless survey ever.

[sumonht1990]

Its really interesting .I can't also understand how they measure happiness,If it is a true and real information you must change the definition of happiness.The bsf[border security force] of india killing the general people in the border area.they shoot and kill the bangladeshi people of the border area. Is it the scale's of happiness??

[Igor Antunov]

At least 40% of indians don't have access to toilets or proper drinking water.

Does shitting where they sleep make them happy? Does drinking poop infested sewage water make them happy?

[catincarnate]

Perhaps when you suffer extremely, in the breaks of suffering that you endure, you can appreciate all he little you have, and therefore can be said to be happy. If you were beaten all your life, and caged, a day where you were not undergoing such treatment, perhaps would be a moment of great enjoyment, and happiness.

[Igor Antunov]

Which makes this measure all the more meaningless.

[catincarnate]

I think it's meaningless to....but interesting....because maybe being happy is whay really matters in life....more then anything else...I suppose it is a philosophical argument...and one wrought with danger to....maybe Africans were more happy before the white man came for instance, rather then now where they are being chased by bombs, bullets and granades...

[Section Leader]

As the old adage goes, ignorance is bliss. Most of these people are completely uneducated and have no idea how awful their lives are, their level of happiness will start to plunge as they learn what it is like to live in the west, or even to be part of the Indian elite.