Birth, Babies, and Beyond

Pregnancy, birth, and parenting

by Randi Hutter Epstein, M.D.

Gross National Happiness--Should We Start Tallying Our GNH?

By Randi Hutter Epstein, M.D. on May 20, 2011 in Birth, Babies, and Beyond

You know what makes me happy? Just knowing that someone cares whether I am or not. I'm not talking lasting happiness, or deep-down satisfaction, just a pick-me-up sort of thing. So when I read that Bhutan, the tiny country landlocked between China and India, tallies a Gross National Happiness index, I felt cheerier for the people there and figured they must feel pretty good too. Read More

Happiness is genetic. African countries might score highest on GNH.

Submitted by Random highly intelligent lay person on May 20, 2011 - 11:10pm.

The main reason some countries are happier than others is in their genes. I'm pretty sure Bhutan doesn't actually try to objectively measure GNH, they just try to distract people from their non-functional economy. But if countries actually did measure Gross National Happiness, and compete about it, then African countries might win, despite their terrible living conditions, and countries like Japan might lose, despite their excellent living conditions.

Different countries have different gene-pools and thus different personalities.

Bhutan's strategy for boosting GNH is to use extreme "xenophobia" and "racism". They believe that by removing all the "enriching" diversity that plagues other countries, they can live in happiness and contentment even without modern technology and industry.