←back to thread

Bhutan, after prioritizing happiness, now faces an existential crisis

(www.cbsnews.com)
271 points nradov | 5 comments | 18 Nov 24 13:53 UTC | HN request time: 0.415s | source
Show context
tivert ◴[18 Nov 24 14:35 UTC] No.42172599[source]▶
It's sad, but I'm sure there's a certain kind of person who's gloating over this. As in "Haha, those assholes wanted happiness, but my awesome capitalism wins everytime!1!! Join us at the bottom, suckers!!1!"

Personally, I kinda feel like people probably have perverse psychological impulses that cause us to make ourselves unhappy and discontented unless there's certain specific external constraints to control those impulses. Modern technology, in its quest to remove all constraint, eagerly removed the necessary ones.

It's sort of like fitness: way back, there was no such activity as "exercise," because everyone got enough as a matter of course (e.g. by farming, hunting, walking everywhere). Now no one has to do any of that, "exercise" is a new chore that requires willpower, so we're all getting fat.

replies(6): >>42172653 #>>42172786 #>>42172805 #>>42172988 #>>42173072 #>>42176904 #
1. konschubert ◴[18 Nov 24 15:16 UTC] No.42173072[source]▶
How do you know that people in Buthan were actually happy?
replies(3): >>42173355 #>>42173611 #>>42180180 #
2. mrala ◴[18 Nov 24 15:37 UTC] No.42173355[source]▶
FTA:

> Every five years, surveyors fan out across Bhutan measuring the nation's happiness. The results are analyzed and factored into public policy.

Or are you asking whether the results of the survey can be trusted?

replies(1): >>42173394 #
3. konschubert ◴[18 Nov 24 15:41 UTC] No.42173394[source]▶
Whether they can be trusted. And how they compare to other nations.
4. tim333 ◴[18 Nov 24 15:58 UTC] No.42173611[source]▶
I went to Bhutan and looked up the surveys. The consensus seems to be they are happier than most countries at their (low) gdp per capita but probably not doing as well as the leading rich countries like Denmark etc.

I think the Bhutanese are a bit cynical about 'gross national happiness' which was invented on the fly by one of the kings.

5. tivert ◴[19 Nov 24 04:54 UTC] No.42180180[source]▶
> How do you know that people in Buthan were actually happy?

Honestly, that's kind of irrelevant to my comment. My points were to 1) decry a kind of obnoxious schadenfreude and 2) posit that our society is likely to lead to unhappiness because of it's focus on individual choice and technology to make various things "easier."

I do respect Bhutan for trying to take a different path, and I suspect they erred by not excluding enough (e.g. allowing the cancer of social media).