Britain is ranked 21st best place to live. 1st is Norway, followed by Australia and Iceland. Japan which is ranked 10th has the highest life expectancy at 82.7 years - in UK it is 79.3 years.
How did they come to this conclusion then? Are these people genuinely happy or have they been told they are?
Diogenes believed in a philosophy called cynicism, to be happy you live as simply as possible, looking at the way that dogs live. He said that he would live like a dog and had no care of manners at all. I could say from this that I think he is wrong. Norway has a very civilised population. Although ,these countries are known for their relaxed attitude to life (stereotype 'Aussie' life as work for the morning- not a stressful job you understand- then surf all afternoon).
What questions could have used in order to find the conclusions of this servey? A simple "Are you happy?". Different people may find happiness in different ways though.
Epicurus was a Greek philosopher who was born over 2300 years ago. One of his major concerns was discovering how to achieve happiness. His basic theory is that all good and bad things come from sensations. All pleasure is good, and all pain is bad. Therefore, in order to achieve happiness, we should try to maximize the amount of pleasure we experience.
Aristotle gave a detailed desciption of how he perceived true happiness. Pleasure is not a good in itself, he argued, since it is by its nature incomplete. But worthwhile activities are often associated with their own distinctive pleasures. Genuine happiness lies in actions that lead to virtue, since this alone provides true value and not just amusement. Therefore, Aristotle held that contemplation is the highest form of moral activity because it is continuous, pleasant, self-sufficient, and complete.
Does this servey then mean that all in those countries are happy? Does it mean people outside those countries are generaly unhappy? Is it the situations that they find themselves in or their state of mind in the same situations is different to thos in higher ranked countries?
I'd say I'm happy when busy yet also when relaxed. When im with friends and alone i can find a state of happiness. These may all vary to some degree but still, I would call my emotion happy.
Who is ever in a high enough intellectual state to give a definition of happiness that covers all aspects of the emotion?
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