World Happiness Report 2015 [pdf] | Hacker News Reader

World Happiness Report 2015 [pdf]

theglobeandmail.com

41 pointsamelius22 comments

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.

>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...

[1] http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015...

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... or send me a mail to the address in my HN-profile.

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?

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

Are there opportunities for living there long term, or only for just working there?

In terms of living, it is great if you want to settle down and create a family. The only long term issue is that it is hard to learn the local language and get really integrated. This is because it is a dialect of German. First, you have to learn German, even though people on the streets speak Swiss German which is quite different. Once you learn German, you have to learn Swiss German.

I was more concerned about entering and staying in the country (I've always believed that Switzerland sounded like a great country to live in). My information may be out of date, but I thought that permanent immigration to Switzerland was nearly impossible. From looking online I don't really see any evidence to the contrary but it's hard to tell. Settling down and starting a family implies a level of stability where said family can stick around for 10+ years and won't get kicked out due to, say, me losing a job.

It depends on the country where you come from. If you are from the older countries in European Union/EFTA then, once you get a job, your permit is not tied to your job and you have enough time to look for another job if you want to switch. You can even get unemployment benefits after completing 1 year (but I would advise not to if you want a C permit). Things are much harder if you come from a non european country. Then I think for the first couple of years your residence permit is tied to your employer. Once you are past the first years though, the conditions improve a lot but you are still in disadvantage compared to Europeans.

If you want more information, I would suggest to look up the conditions for L, B, and C permits depending on your country of origin.

Once you have a C permit, you are pretty much settled in and almost like a Swiss person (apart from voting). On B permit, you have less freedom, but I have not faced any practical issues so far (but I am young, without family, and European).

The general Swiss populace is quite xenophobic though, even if you're a high-performer.

At least in Zurich, I doubt that this is the case as 30% of its population hold a foreign passport. There is no other city I know of that has such a huge percentage of foreigners.

All other cities in Switzerland are rather small and by European or North American standards you wouldn't even call them cities but villages. If you go to a village anywhere you will get xenophobic vibes and I think this is where Switzerland bad PR comes from.

Over 50% of Torontonians were born outside of Canada. Not sure if there are any other major cities that top that.

Literally every single one of your comments in the past month is an ad for your little travel thing.

I wonder if that's a bannable offense, or if it's just ridiculously annoying

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.

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

> 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...

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..

The place we live, planet earth?

> 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

1: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/world

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...

[1] http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015...

[2] http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015...

[3] http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015...

[4] http://worldhappiness.report/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2015...

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

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

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

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...

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

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.

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