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Writing up our story on this year’s World Happiness Report made me think: what actually makes me happy? Many people I know here in New York would probably say that, for them, it is “money”. Plenty of philosophers—and New Yorkers—would say “pleasure”. Those who don’t want to sound so crass might quote Aristotle, who said that happiness comes from living virtuously and moderately.
The report, which is based on a survey in which participants are asked to rate their lives on a scale of zero to ten, did find a significant relationship between GDP per person and national happiness scores. But I was also intrigued by another finding: dining with others, it turns out, is just as closely tied to happiness scores as income and employment status.
You can
explore the full country ranking.
Keep an eye out for the musical references. (I spent far too long on them.)
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