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Comment by ricardobayes | Hacker News Reader

I'm not sure if I would put Scandinavia and happiness in the same sentence. Brutal winters, SAD and stuff. Maybe Swedes are happy because they can spend (and afford) 6 weeks of holiday in the south of Spain to cancel out that crap weather. (edited out a part that was factually incorrect)

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Whilst we are generalising, why wouldn't we put it in the same sentence? "What Americans Can Learn From Scandinavians, the Happiest People in the World"[0]

0: https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/why-scandinavians-ar...

I've researched this issue, the Scandys doth protest too much.

There's also not that firm belief that cold and dark is bad. You go out on your skidoo, you go cross country skiing, etc etc, and then you return to your cozy home. or go to a sauna.

You drink your fish elixir. You try to prioritize time around the little sunlight there is. Brutal winters are not quite as brutal when you just call em "winter".

Plus dry colds tend to not feel as cold. Ottawa at -10 feels worse than Yellowknife at -25 (imo).

I live in Wisconsin, USA and I always laugh when people talk about how hard the winters are here. 3-4 well-planned layers on your torso and legs, a good pair of wool socks and boots, and a cross-country skiing hobby and you end up anxious that winter won't last long enough. It's the people who stay indoors and don't dress properly for the cold who have a hard time.

Regarding Scandinavia, I suspect the lack of sunlight does add an interesting dimension of toughness to winter that we don't have to deal with here, though.

> It's the people who stay indoors and don't dress properly for the cold who have a hard time.

It's also the people who just don't like the cold. I dress properly, I don't stay indoors, and I hate the cold. It makes just about everything worse for me.

She lives in Malmö in southern Sweden. Some years they don't even get any meteorological winter at all (5 consecutive days with an average temperature below 0°C). Scandinavia does not have brutal winters thanks to the gulf stream, and the polar night (which is not total darkness) is a few weeks in the sparsely populated area north of the arctic circle.

Ugh.. Then you have winter without the best part of winter: snow.

I choose to live in Scotland over many other places in the world. Unbearably hot summer days where you have to avoid being outdoors for the mid afternoon are not my idea of a good time. Factors like holiday entitlements, and cultural norms are far more important than "is it hot outside".

Really? I just hopped on public transport, and could visit any friend within 20 minutes. Or just suit up and go on a hike. Or maybe take a walk in the exceedingly beautiful city. I never understood this complaint from the naysayers.

Having lived in both places for several years (first couple of years are never a good gauge due to taxes, relocation, visa, acclimatization, bias), I very much prefer the quality of life in Europe. At least California pays well enough to offset the forest smog I guess.

And yes convenient access to other European countries is also a big plus.

>I never understood this complaint from the naysayers.

In the United States, a lot of people act like being outside in 40 degree weather is deadly. I also think Americans are less social, especially as they get older so winters tend to be a lot of sitting inside and watching TV.

It varies for sure. I live in a place with overcast and wet winters and I get SAD really bad if I'm not leaving the house, but do fine when I can get out into nature or spend time with friends.

"6 months of total darkness" huh? That's news to all of us that have been there.

1. Dont North of USA also get really cold and dark? My winters in south of Sweden are like -10C max for a day... Not very brutal.

2. Take some Vitamin D and its fine...

3. Dark is cozy too

Sweden is approved the same latitude band as Alaska. Sweden may be warmer thanks to the gulf stream, but its winters are as dark as the darkest you can get in the US.

I live here lol I know what its like

Which of Alaska and Sweden is your "here"? :)

Sweden is for sure not the socialist paradise that some think it is. But the Winter in the (relative) South of Sweden are relatively mild and there are always some hours of sun. I live in the North of Sweden (geographically somewhat north of the center) and while the winters are long, there are always some hours of sunlight, often direct sunlight without clouds, reflected by the snow. It's beautiful. The real problem is that the current inflation, recession and increased unemployment, in combination with the previous habit of infinite-time mortgages and policies that favor the non-working elites, are ruining the social contract...

I stand corrected. I experienced the midnight sun there, and assumed it also went dark for an extended period of time as well.

Yes but not in Malmö where she lives. Look at a map.

The Arctic circle is where you get 24 hour night and days. And that is very far north in Sweden.

There is crap weather in US too, Minnesota, North Dakota, etc get extremely bad weather, -40C all winter and summer lasts a few months. Sweden at least has the ocean to mellow out the temperate extremes.

Yeah and times nearing Summer like this is annoying. It is coming to evening or extremely early morning and it is still way too light outside. Just horrible here in Northern Europe...

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