←back to thread

271 points nradov | 1 comments | | HN request time: 0s | source
Show context
tivert ◴[] 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 #
konschubert ◴[] No.42173072[source]
How do you know that people in Buthan were actually happy?
replies(3): >>42173355 #>>42173611 #>>42180180 #
mrala ◴[] 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 #
1. konschubert ◴[] No.42173394[source]
Whether they can be trusted. And how they compare to other nations.